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 Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 11:35 am
Having figured out by now that only those from Grande Ile would have even had a chance of recognizing the name, Izaya didn't bother with caution in mentioning Luke's surname aloud. He just thought he'd drop the hint to remind the young noble of his previous ignorance in response to Luke's claim that he wasn't a child. Sure, he had grown some since then, but he still had a lot more to go.
"Never? Then I take it you're a foreigner here," Izaya stated in reply to Yuri's remark. "Either that, or you just don't get out much. It's a pretty common dish around this area. Honestly, it's a wonder you even know how to handle that sword of yours. If you're actually any good at it."
The long-haired stranger was swift, to be sure, but his style seemed amateur....unpolished. It wasn't like any style Izaya had ever heard of or seen. Perhaps he had acquired the blade as an heirloom or something without having been properly trained. Not that there was anything wrong with that. After all, parkour was based off free-styling, and there was at least one other person the informant could name who improvised with a traditional Japanese weapon.
"...Well, not always, but often," the informant answered, having just caught Yuri's next question. "Usually I meet people online, so they only know me by my handle name, if that counts. But forgive me; I had thought since you and Lukey-san seemed so close, he might have already told you about me."
This of course, was a lie. Izaya was surprised Luke had even recognized him from so long ago. The truth of the matter was that he had been trying to avoid giving a name for as long as he could, but he'd been caught. Oh well - perhaps Luke still remembered it too, in which case it didn't matter if his identity was kept secret from Yuri any more.
"Izaya Orihara, at your service," the Rocket announced, doing something like a partial pirouette to face the duo behind him before bowing at the waist. "Will your...'pet' be joining us?" he asked, nodding to Repede as if noticing him for the first time. "If he is, might as well bring out Mieu so neither of them are so lonely."
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 11:59 am
"You 'often' judge everyone's skills by how familiar they are with restaurants, or is that just with swordsmen?" Jeez, the comment hadn't even been directed him and even Luke found it insulting. What kind of a conclusion was that supposed to be?
The next conclusion the man reached was similarly baffled, and Luke shrugged, "We met once like, more than a year ago." He didn't usually go around talking about every passing acquaintance to people he knew, and he probably wouldn't have been able to produce a name without some kind of cue anyway - not that he'd admit the second part as quickly as the first. Names weren't necessarily his strong suit.
At the suggestion to release Mieu, Luke shook his head firmly. He really didn't like the idea of his Flareon sharing the same space with that guy.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 12:16 pm
Yuri just continued to smirk. While Luke may have taken offense to Izaya's words, it seemed to just roll off him with little consequence. One had to wonder how Izaya could be an accurate judge of his style after only having a sword drawn on him once, but that was fine. If this man wanted to underestimate him, that only served to Yuri's advantage.
"Yeah, I'm not from around here," Yuri confirmed. It was true after all, he was a foreigner, and before now.. he hadn't really gotten out much either. Outside of his home town at least.
Izaya's name was mentally filed away, and Yuri was now satisfied.
Repede perked his ears, knowing he was being spoken about and gave a couple barks back at the strange man.
"Naw, Repede's fine." Obviously Luke wasn't comfortable with bringing out Mieu, and Repede wasn't the type to get lonely.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 2:30 pm
"Not that I was talking to you, nor that it's any business of yours," the cheerful man said to Luke, "but I was actually referring to what the food and weapon have in common - their cultural background." He gestured grandly to Yuri. "One they share with Yuri-chan, but not one he seems to be familiar with, sadly." Izaya shrugged with a careless smile. "I'm just trying to get him in touch with his cultural heritage. Isn't that nice of me?"
Not waiting for an answer, he continued on with a jovial skip onward, ignoring Repede's barks as if they hadn't been directed at him at all. "Suit yourselves~" he sang. "Mieu will be missing out. Maybe you an bring him home some leftovers."
Once in front of the small restaurant, he opened the door and gestured inside. It was a dimly-lit room, and small. However, there were several people eating at tables already and the fragrance of the soups and spices was already wafting toward them.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 3:02 pm
He pocketed his hands, frowning slightly. "It's not any more your business than it is mine," he muttered defiantly. That guy sure liked to contradict himself, didn't he? Telling people not to give their full names and then giving his own, telling people to mind their own business and then pushing into someone else's...
Luke glanced into the restaurant's interior warily, unsure of the scale and lighting. It was all... kind of uncomfortable. He felt as though he probably shouldn't be nervous about it, and yet he was nonetheless. It was proving to be a very strange day.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 3:19 pm
... Were they really arguing over whose business was or wasn't his? Yuri couldn't help but be amused.
"Whoa whoa guys, come on. I'm right here you know."
It didn't really bother him that he didn't know anything about his lineage or whatever. He was rather comfortable with who he was, no matter where he came from.
Folding his arms, he then looked into the restaurant. "Huh, something smells good."
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 5:17 pm
"..." When neither of the other men decided to be the first to take a step inside, Izaya sighed and pushed his way past them. "Alright, no need to rush in, now. We're only wasting daylight," he murmured. Luke's words' hadn't seemed to phase him; he'd decided long ago that as an information broker, everyone's business was his business. That was how he'd made a living, after all.
With his back to the others as he strode forward, the grunt rolled his eyes. It was supposed to smell good - it was a freakn' restaurant. Luke seemed to act like Izaya was trying to poison them. Well, he wasn't going to coddle the boy. If he was too chicken, he could wait outside and starve. As for Orihara...he preferred to be indoors and less likely to be spotted out in the open. Just in case that monster in a bartender suit happened to be skulking nearby.
"Three bowls of Udon Miso soup," Izaya called to the chef. Even if Luke didn't want it, Repede could have some, and they could always order more. He seated himself at the bar-style counter and glanced back at the other young men.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 6:02 pm
He breathed a short sigh. What was he so anxious about anyway? Because yeah, restaurants are super intimidating and probably also dangerous. Dammit, Luke, get it together already. Having sufficiently bullied himself, Luke followed the given example and seated himself similarly, regarding Izaya with a straightforward but otherwise untelling expressing, "Thanks." He at least knew where expressions of gratitude were due and how to pay them properly.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 6:02 pm
Yuri wasn't far behind Izaya, and really wasn't in a hurry either. The fact that Izaya seemed to be was a bit odd. But he shrugged it off and sat himself on one of the bar stools, next to the red eyed man. Repede sat at the base of Yuri's chair and gave a wide yawn before laying down.
He took the time to look around, never having been in a restaurant quite like this one before.
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Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 11:59 pm
In about 15 minutes, the bowls of soup were ready and placed in front of the young men, chopsticks neatly bridging across the bowl's opening. A small soup spoon that looked like a mini ladle was placed on a side saucer with each serving, presumably to drink the liquid broth of the soup.
Izaya distractedly opened the paper wrapping and split the sticks apart, staring off into the distance as he took a first mouthful of noodles into his mouth. After chewing thoughtfully, he took a drink of water and paused.
"...Someone stole a pokemon of mine," he said in a low murmur, audible enough only for his companions to hear. "Quite recently, too. I thought I'd mention him to you in case either of you happened to see him on the street. He could be part of that pokemon-stealing organization everyone's talking about these days."
Glancing down at Repede, Izaya took a piece of meat from his bowl and dropped it on the canine's head. "Whoops. Sorry. Ah, that reminds me - " He looked back up at Yuri. "Would your pet - 'Repede', you called him? - like a bowl of his own?"
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 8:55 am
Using chopsticks to eat noodles seemed like kind of a weird idea, but apparently it wasn't so outlandish that anyone was caught horribly off guard. It was worth a shot, at least. He unwrapped and split the utensils, but Izaya's words attracted his attention away from the food almost as an instinctive reaction. There was something sort of depressing about how unsurprising it was to hear of stolen pokemon nowadays, but that didn't mean it instilled any less indignation. The fact that it was becoming so common was testament that it needed to be stopped.
"What did he look like? And what was stolen?"
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Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 8:53 pm
While Luke was openly concerned about the stolen Pokemon, Yuri was fixated on the wooden sticks that had been placed across his bowl. He stared at them for a moment before picking them up. "The hell is this?" He asked aloud, before looking at the others to see them breaking theirs apart and using them.
They were supposed to... eat... with sticks? Yuri broke his apart and held them together in his hand... before poking at the noodles as if trying to stab them. No that wasn't right, that's not how Izaya was using them. After a few moments of fumbling, Yuri's mouth twisted to the side in a pout.
"How the hell are you supposed to eat with a pair of oversized toothpicks?"
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 8:05 am
The informant finished his mouthful of noodles before he opened his mouth again to speak. "I didn't get a good look at his face - he was wearing tinted shades - but I think he had blonde hair and, for some reason, was wearing a bartender suit."
Izaya frowned at his noodle bowl. Even the mere mental image of the man's face set him on edge. Still, he forced himself to speak calmly. "Maybe he had been working undercover at a bar before he decided to come out and show his true colors. Anyway, the pokemon he stole from me was especially important because my little sisters had been after one for so long, and Espeon are rather hard to come by."
He sighed and rubbed his temples, looking upset. "I was just about to bring it to them for their birthday one night when this man, this...monster relentlessly attacked me. He and his pokemon were long gone by the time I came to, along with the Espeon I'd intended as a gift, but I'm pretty sure that was a Metagross' arm that knocked me out."
Shaking his head sadly, he finished, "I tried to go to the police to report the man, but you know how officers are around here. Especially in a city like this one. There's so much crime lately that they can hardly keep up. I doubt they've even started searching for the guy." The crimson-eyed man looked up at Luke with a pitiful expression.
"Whatever you do, keep your pokemon close. I know Mieu is special to you. Even when we met the first time, I could see you were attached to him. It would be such a shame if those thieves running around happened to get their hands on such a loyal Flareon."
His sentimental dialogue and heartfelt warning was rudely interrupted by a complaint from Yuri. With a tight smile and a mental glare, Izaya returned his attention to the other man. "Honestly...you're hopeless." Taking Yuri's hands in his own, he clasped the correct fingers around one chopstick.
"First, you hold this one like you're holding a pencil. Then," he continued, further displaying his disregard for personal space as he plucked the utensil from Yuri's other hand, "you slip this one between these fingers, letting it rest against your ring finger and controlling it with the base of your thumb."
With his hands still over Yuri's, he guided the other's digits to snap the stick ends together. "This end is where you grab the food. With noodles - especially soup noodles - you need to slurp it up quickly to get the broth with it. Practice makes perfect." Releasing the other's hands, Orihara patted him on the back before continuing his own meal, demonstrating the method he had explained.
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Posted: Tue May 22, 2012 6:09 pm
Luke furrowed his brow incredulously, "Wait, are you sure?" Wasn't he describing that Shizuo guy that was usually with Izumi? Not that he had seen either of them recently, but still... "He's friends with a few people I know... He's had plenty of chances to steal from us, if he were with Team Rocket..." He was mostly talking to himself at this point, attempting to reconcile the story Izaya told with what he knew of Shizuo. The pieces weren't really fitting together...
He hummed thoughtfully as the anecdote drew to its conclusion, "Even if the police did find him, there's not necessarily anything they could do." He knew that from experience. "They won't arrest someone without enough proof."
Something about Izaya's shift in demeanor was weird too. The blunt and outright expressions of despair were... uncharacteristic, as was the concern for Mieu's well-being. Luke wasn't really sure what to think. He picked thoughtfully at the soup, as though the flavor might have had some kind of answer for him, though Yuri's sudden borderline outrage provided sufficient distraction to derail his considerations. He watched the demonstration and looked to his own hand as though suddenly wondering if he had been doing it wrong the whole time. Yes, yes he was. Well, if it got food from the plate to his mouth, he wasn't about to complain about it...
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 2:55 am
Hey, he had a right to be indignant. Anything that came between a man and his food, was subject to it. Despite his antics though, Yuri was listening to the conversation, and didn't seem to be as bothered by the invasion of his personal space as before. He blinked once as Izaya showed him the proper use of the wooden utensils.
"Huh, so that's how it works."
Once his hand was released, he snapped the ends of the chopsticks together several times. Holding the bowl in his other hand he then proceeded to slowly pick up the noodles. A bit clumsily at first, but as moments passed, he was soon eating the soup exactly as Izaya was demonstrating. As if he'd been using chopsticks all of his life.
Slurping up some of the noodles, he then set the bowl down and chewed, spinning the chopsticks between his fingers as if they were batons.
"Not bad," he commented after swallowing. He could really learn to like this stuff.
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