cute sushi lunches.

[goesberserk]

Who: Heiwajima Shizuo and Orihara Izaya; Amalthea; Maya Fey (OPEN)
When: December 20th (daytime)
Where: Wandering around Sector 4
Summary: Shizuo caught the news about a new sushi restaurant and is now on a mission to find it. Plus, getting a lay of the land might be good.
Warnings: Should be pretty tame so long as he doesn't get pissed off.

Comments

fjdakfdj, yay, they get to meet face-to-face. ♥

[goesberserk]

One second, Shizuo had been minding his own business, and the next? He had someone scrabbling their hands against his back, having clearly tripped. The gasp he heard caused him to turn around right in time to catch the girl and steady her

[goesberserk]

Shizuo had no idea of whether or not he'd get to meet this friend of Maya's, but he didn't know if it would be a good idea in the first place. While he got along with the girl well enough so far, he didn't know if that would extend to the people she knew. If he ended up hurting someone she was close to, he got the feeling she wouldn't think he was quite so cool

[acemedium]

"That's okay! That just means you're a good listener, right?" Or something to that effect. Besides, she figured she did enough talking for the two of them.

Well, that was the end of her serious moment. "I knew I could count on you! And don't worry, if you want to buy any gifts, I'll definitely keep them secret! We'll be like secret agents, weaving through the stores stealthily to find stuff."

Having that said, she turned back around to look. What store next. "I wonder where we should start? Maybe the sunglasses... What do you think, Mr. Shizuo?"

[goesberserk]

A good listener, huh? Maybe. He knew that Celty was way better at it than he was. Shizuo didn't mind listening to people, but the second that they started to get on his nerves it quickly turned ugly. So it all depended.

He didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't really have anyone in this place who he cared to buy a gift for -- not to mention the fact that he didn't feel too comfortable wasting money on that sort of thing. Not when it wasn't his own money, anyway.

Still, when she asked for his opinion he gave her a blank, clueless look before looking around at the rows of shops. There was a lot to choose from, which he wasn't a stranger to either. After walking a bit further down the road, he noticed a store that was for eye wear. "Something like that?" he asked, pointing it out.

[acemedium]

"And plus, when you say stuff, it's meaningful!"

Or that's how it went in the movies, anyway. And considering how much TV Maya watched... Well.

"Hey, good spotting! C'mon, let's start our investigation!"

His company was... surprisingly nice. She hadn't realized how long it had been since she and Phoenix had done something like this - just walk around together and look at shops. Or investigate. And Shizuo wasn't Phoenix, but he was nice to spend time with in his own way. He was pretty quiet, but she didn't mind that, although she felt the urge to talk more to fill the silence.

Regardless, this was turning out to be a lot funner with him along for the ride. Suddenly re-enthused, she made as if to start bounding over to the store - but her legs felt wobbly again.

"Ah!"

It was little more than a stumble, but she did have to flail her arm a bit to keep her balance. It looked like she'd have to take it slow for a while.

[goesberserk]

While she was trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, Shizuo didn't really know if that was the case at all. Usually when he said things, it didn't come out right, or it just sounded idiotic. He knew that. He wasn't good at it; he was better at just acting. Too bad most of his actions involved throwing heavy objects at people.

But that was something he'd at least gotten used to over the many years that he'd dealt with it, even if he would never completely accept it.

As the girl headed off toward the store, Shizuo was quick to follow, and happened to be close enough behind her (his legs were quite a bit longer than hers, after all) that -- well, his hands were full of bags, so in the end he just let her stumble back against him for a moment.

Part of him thought it would have been easier if he could just carry her as well, but he doubted that would go over well in Maya's opinion or in the opinion of the other shoppers.

"You might want to walk a bit slower," he suggested instead with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

haha that would be so awkward

[acemedium]

To be honest, bumping into him startled her more than losing her balance. She'd always been easily spooked, but this was just... embarrassing. And how long until she could walk again without feeling wobbly?

"S-Sorry!"

She laughed a little self-consciously, not bothering with the ground jokes. For the moment. "Ahaha... Yeah, probably."

Luckily for her, Phoenix wasn't around to see that. Total mother hen that he was, he would have probably fussed forever. And possibly thrown her over his shoulder and taken her home or something.

...On second thought, Nick wasn't nearly manly enough for that sort of thing.

"R-Right, so um! The eye-wear shop!"

She did take it slowly and carefully this time.

Shizuo doesn't see what's wrong with carrying people. :|

[goesberserk]

While he didn't understand why she was apologizing for what had happened when she clearly hadn't meant to almost fall, Shizuo only shrugged to himself and then watched as she started to head off in the same direction.

Staying just a half-step behind her with one hand ready to grab her by the shoulder if need be, they made the trip into the store without any further incident.

Though, as would be expected at a time like this, the place was rather busy. And now Shizuo remembered why this could be a bad idea. If someone ended up shoving Maya in their need to get to a certain pair of glasses, he just knew he was going to lose it. You didn't shove someone who'd just gotten out of the hospital!

Just thinking about it made him annoyed, and so he did his best to think about something else, focusing instead on the displays of glasses. "What do you think?" he asked the girl with a tilt of his head. He didn't even know what this friend of hers looked like, so...

I'm just totally picturing him walking around with her under his arm

[acemedium]

Maya couldn't shake off the feeling that Shizuo was hovering. He seemed to be walking pretty closely behind her. She figured it was in case she fell again, and that just made her feel embarrassed again.

And yet... even more embarrassing... It actually soothed her nerves a bit. She almost felt... safe (and that was increasingly elusive feeling since her first encounter with Grimmjow). At least when it came to walking around outside.

She'd stayed quiet as they'd entered the shop, reflecting- but all the hustle and bustle snapped her out of it.

"Oh! How cool!"

It was hard to see with so many people around, but Maya weaved through a few people to siddle up to the display. "Maybe something like that!" She pointed at a particular pair of glasses. "Hmm, I don't know if it would go with his spiky hair, though..."

He could do it!

[goesberserk]

Most people seemed to get out of the way when they saw him coming (probably because of his height, since no one actually knew who he was here, which was something he was still getting used to); this made it pretty easy to follow after Maya as she browsed around the shop. When she paused and pointed out a pair, Shizuo reached up and took it down, holding it in his hands as carefully as he could

And she'd just be like UM MR. SHIZUO.....

[acemedium]

"Black, like mine!" Maya answered cheerfully. She mimed the spikes behind her head. "Only it's spiky like this."

She took the glasses and turned them over to look at them. She either hadn't noticed the price or was willfully ignoring it. "Ooooh, they're pretty nice. I bet he could attract lots of clients if he just--" she paused in consideration.

"... Hmm... You know, I dunno if this would work for his goofy face."

Having that said, she put them on, and looked up at him with her best "intimidating" face. Said face was not intimidating in the least (quite the opposite, actually.) "What do you think, Mr. Shizuo?"

LMAO if only I could draw.

[goesberserk]

Black, spiky hair. Shizuo tried to come up with some sort of mental image, but he wasn't really the best at deciding if something looked good or not in the first place. People tended to think he looked well-dressed and well-groomed, and he definitely stood out, but that was the point. Would Maya's friend want the same effect, though? It all depended...

"Clients? What kind of clients?" That could imply all sorts of professions, but Shizuo didn't want to jump to any conclusions.

The girl was a bit mean toward someone who was supposed to be a friend, but Shizuo knew that that was sometimes how it went. He just knew that he tended to be sensitive to even the stupidest jokes himself.

Though when Maya put on the pair of glasses herself and tried to look tough, Shizuo just blinked down at her and shook his head. "They're a bit big on you."

LIKEWISE ;; We will always have mental images

[acemedium]

"Oh, Nick's a defense attorney! I'm his assistant." Although Maya teased Phoenix quite frequently, and had no qualms making fun of him (to his face, or to other people) - a brief reminder of recent events was enough for her to soften.

"We haven't had too much luck with cases in the last couple of months... And with me in the hospital, well... I haven't been able to help him out. Plus, he spent more time fussing over me than looking for work."

She paused, and a mixture of guilt and concern flickered over her face briefly. "... I think he's discouraged right now, so something like this might help him feel more confident. Plus, looking cooler is always good, and that'll help with the clients!"

Having that said, Maya couldn't help but pout at his response. "But still cool, right?"

[goesberserk]

A defense attorney... So a lawyer, right? Shizuo didn't know much about that sort of thing, but as far as he could remember, that was the sort of person who tried to argue that people didn't commit a crime. Which could be good or bad, depending on if the person was really innocent

[acemedium]

That comment surprised her a little. To be honest, Nick's manly moments were kind of rare, but...

"Yeah, but... I mean, I recovered pretty well. Aside from the first few days. And I'm really grateful for all the time he spent with me, but..."

Whether or not he wanted to bring it up, she found herself talking about it, regardless. He was a pretty good listener, and it felt easy to talk to him. "...He can't just stop his life because some creep tried to kill me. I mean, it's bad enough he blamed himself for it when it totally wasn't his fault." She frowned. "He's got to take care of himself, instead of worrying and fussing over me all the time."

That was... a bit more than she intended to say. Self-consciously, she fell quiet, and took off the glasses to fiddle with them.

"Yeah, I think so... They'd probably work for him."

And then she saw the price. Yikes.

"W-Woah!"

[goesberserk]

While the girl had a point, Shizuo still thought it was someone's obligation to look after a friend or someone they were supposed to protect if they were injured. This lawyer clearly hadn't run himself broke just because of what had happened to Maya, so it wasn't like some concern was out of the question.

Then again, Shizuo knew that he didn't like people fussing over him that much, either. Mainly because it was always the wrong sort of person who did it, like that doctor...

Shaking his head in order to stop him from thinking about that, he paused as something else she'd said registered. "So it was a person who attacked you? Not the monsters?" She'd brought it up, so he didn't feel quite so bad asking about it. Who the hell would attack someone like her? Shizuo had a hard time believing that Maya had done anything to deserve it.

But then the girl was back to looking at the glasses, and the way that she let out a startled noise distracted Shizuo from his own troubling thoughts. "Ehh?"