vatheon | (no subject)

Ion answered the door with a worried look on his face. Two of his friends were asleep, and it was hard to tend to both of them. He looked up at Shizuo, then gasped.

"Are you okay? You look like you were just in a fight, sir!"

Sola came up behind Ion soon after, curious as to who was at the door and with his sword arm still wrapped but minus the sling; he didn't feel the need to wear it at home. "Shizuo? What happened?! You look awful! Did the spiky man get you?!"

Shizuo did not recognize the kid - was he a kid? - who answered the door, and manners weren't at the forefront of his mind. So he took a step that could very easily be misconstrued as menacing, and demanded, "Where's Izaya?" But just as he asked, Sola appeared at the door, and Shizuo remembered why he had been fighting.

"Sola." Wait, what was Sola doing at Izaya's place? There were too many things happening at once. "Ah - yeah. I went after him because of what he did to you. Zelda told me. He's really strong." That was an understatement. If he had beaten Shizuo, then he was more than just strong. He was...powerful.

Then: "Do you two live here?"

"Ah, yes we do." Ion bowed his head to Shizuo hastily in greeting. "My name is Ion. Please, come in, you don't look so good. Let me heal you!"

Ion scooted to the side, gesturing for Shizuo to come in.

"Because of me? That was stupid! You could have gotten seriously hurt and then Zelda would be sad and it'd be all my fault!" Grabbing Shizuo's hand, Sola didn't wait for him to enter the apartment of his own accord, instead tugging the ragged bodyguard to a seat in the living room.

"Sit down and let Ion heal you." That is an order, not a request.

"No, it's my fault. I wanted to," he replied as he was tugged inside. He sounded somewhat distracted, because he was trying to figure out why Izaya would live with Sola and Ion. And Laharl, even. It was strange. He didn't know whether he should warn them about Izaya or just question the informant about his motives.

"Wait, wait," he said to Sola, stopping before he sat down. "I need to see Izaya before anything else. I have to tell him something. Then we can do this." Whatever this was, exactly. He didn't exactly know what being healed involved. He wanted Izaya to see just how beaten he was - by someone who wasn't him.

Ion's face fell. "Izaya is asleep. He won't wake up... I-I guess that's not strange in Vatheon, but it's just so weird for him to be quiet like this."

And it really was. Izaya was such an expressive person, having to watch him sleep silently for days on end with no change was quite distressing.

"He looked really tired a few days ago when we walked home, I guess he needs it. He was supposed to teach me about how the world works, though." Sola also looked upset. Izaya was a large knot in the supportive net Sola had built for himself and with one of his mentors unavailable, the Hylian sometimes found himself at a loss.

"He won't wake up?" Laharl had told him that Izaya seemed tired. And Shizuo had seen it himself. But not waking up - wasn't that bad? What if -

Shizuo immediately stopped thinking down that path. What was he doing? So Izaya was asleep. Good. He couldn't cause trouble if he was sleeping. Maybe he'd stay asleep forever. Right. That was good.

However, the revelation that he couldn't boast to Izaya depleted what adrenaline Shizuo had left. Suddenly, he felt very tired and it was as though his injuries suddenly fully registered as painful.

He sat down on the couch, carefully.

"You know, Izaya's dangerous and sneaky sometimes." There was no energy behind this statement, though. It didn't really seem important, anymore. After all, Ion and Sola already lived there.

"You shouldn't speak badly behind people's backs," Ion scolded. "He can't defend himself right now." There's not that much conviction behind it, since he is worried about this man. He kneels down beside him, folding his hands in some sort of prayer. Once his hands took on an eerie glow, Ion placed them on Shizuo.

"Oh healing power... first aid!"

Sola dropped himself into a chair across from Shizuo and watched as Ion cast his spell. Sometimes he wondered if he could do magic, but all of the reading and studying required to learn it deterred him from ever finding out. "He's not sneaky, he's our friend. He was one of the first people to be nice to me here."

The allusion to Shizuo having gone the complete other direction and beaned him with a bench hung in the air, present but unsaid.

Shizuo had never been magically healed before, but he wasn't too surprised to see Ion's hands glow and to eventually feel as though his body was recovering. Aside from his own experiences with the unusual, Vatheon had showed him all manner of people, and he knew that some had abilities like healing. He sat very still, but he thought about what Sola said.

Friends. Izaya had friends. Everyone Shizuo managed to meet at Vatheon seemed to have some sort of connection to Izaya - a positive connection, at that. If he didn't know Izaya better than he figured all these people did, he would have thought that he was missing out on something. But Izaya was the kind of person who yelled at Shizuo about how he could completely destroy his life, throwing his brother into the mix as though it were no big deal. Izaya liked to use people.

He felt like laughing - Izaya, nice. And him, the monster who attacked Sola. In his defense, it was because Sola had bothered Zelda, but still - Izaya the hero. It was funny.

"Izaya has never been very nice to me," he said, because he felt like he needed to say something to prove that he wasn't just throwing out accusations. "But it's good that he's nice to you, I guess."

Then he looked at Ion. "Thanks. For this." Because Shizuo wasn't planning on visiting the clinic or Shinra; without Ion, he probably would have had a rough night.

"Oh, it's no trouble." Ion smiled, but it was a little strained. Casting still took some energy for the little Fon Master, but it was much better than it had been on Auldrant.

"Everyone has their enemies, I suppose... people that they don't get along with. You don't have to apologize," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Bet you threw something at him when you first met too and that's why." The statement was a barely audible mumble, but from his expression, Sola clearly didn't let things go quite as easily as Ion.

"What did you want to tell him? You can write it down and we'll make sure he sees it when he wakes up."

Shizuo gave Ion a small smile. He was so nice and polite. It was hard to imagine Izaya living with someone like him. Actually, it was hard to imagine Izaya living peaceably with anyone.

Sola's comment caught Shizuo off guard and made his smile fall. "I didn't throw something at him," he replied, almost childishly. Well, he didn't exactly throw something. They had fought from the first moment of seeing each other, though. And...maybe Shizuo hadn't been entirely nice, but Izaya had deserved it. Even if he hadn't, Izaya had made up for it by making his living a living hell.

"I wanted to tell him about the fight." It seemed stupid now that he was healed and now that he knew Izaya was sleeping. Shizuo also realized he was going to have to tell Zelda that he messed up and lost. That was more important now that Shizuo sat and thought about it. "It doesn't matter, though."

"You wanted to tell him about the fight?" Ion sounded bewildered. "Why would you want to tell someone about a fight that you lost? Ah, I'm sorry! That was rude, wasn't it?"

He waved his hands in front of himself apologetically. Admittedly, he was curious. It seemed like an odd thing to do.

"Uh, I think that's a fair question. I don't think it's his fault he lost though. That spiky guy has to be some kind of really strong alien or something 'cause he's just not normal." Because Sola's totally an expert on normality. Yup.

"He isn't normal," Shizuo replied, sounding somewhat fascinated as he recalled the fight. Now that he was rational and thinking about it, he regretted not being able to talk to the guy. Shizuo assumed he wasn't human, since that's how he had identified Shizuo, but he wanted to know more.

It was almost a shame that the fight prevented that.

"Izaya..." Shizuo wondered how he would explain this without it sounding dumb. Which, upon reflection, it kind of did - rushing over to Izaya's to brag about a loss directly after a fight. "He thinks he's the only one who handle me. My violence, I mean. I wanted to show him that that isn't true. That guy...he beat the crap out of me. Izaya could never do that." Izaya could run and trick Shizuo, but Izaya was quick, not inhumanly strong.

Ion was smart enough to not say his thoughts out loud. It sounded like this Shizuo guy wanted Izaya to be jealous of the fight? That was just too strange.

"We'll, umm, be sure to tell him, then... be careful of the spiky man, though. It wouldn't be good if he broke your bones, too." Ion actually sounded a little angry on that last part. He forgave easily, but not when someone hurt his friends and didn't apologize.

Sola, on the other hand, seemed to either have no filter or just didn't care. "You just wanted to go 'neener neener I fought with someone else'? That seems kinda dumb. You shouldn't want to fight anyone." All the tact of a brick through a window, this one.

He glances at Ion after his warning, though, grateful and a little taken aback at the protective undercurrent in his tone. It wasn't like sweet little Ion to get angry. "Yeah, just... stay away from him. Zelda said he's evil." He rubbed his arm a bit, scratching at the bandages.

"It's not like that!" Shizuo exclaimed, sitting up and glaring at Sola. Okay, maybe it was a little like that, but Shizuo didn't want to think of it that way. "Izaya told me no one ever would be able to match me like that. I just wanted him to know he was wrong. He's usually right about things, and it pisses me off."

The "spiky man" was a better topic. "I'll be careful," he promised Ion. But while Shizuo wasn't going to go out of his way to find him, he wouldn't be staying away from him, either. He wanted to know more, and he wanted to beat him.

"Okay, good. Ah, did you want some tea or anything?" Ion figured it was best to be polite and offer.

"I'm, umm, not very good at making things but tea isn't very difficult, and you should have a little something after healing up. Do you want any, Sola?"

"Okay. Let me know if you need help with the kettle. Do we have any of the cake left too? I'm kind of hungry." He'd been out this morning doing odd jobs for random citizens (and starfish tokens) and had actually only been home a short while before Shizuo showed up. Helping people sure works you up an appetite!

"And you better be telling the truth, Shizuo, about being careful. If you make Zelda upset, I'll never forgive you."

"Sure, tea is fine." Though drinking what was most likely Izaya's tea out of Izaya's cups in Izaya's home was just strange. Shizuo decided not to think about it. Hopefully the flea wouldn't wake up before he finished and left. And hopefully none of it was laced with something bad.

"I won't upset Zelda!" He would never, and look who was talking! All Sola did in the beginning was upset her! "Tch, you need to watch what you say, Sola." Not that Shizuo would ever hurt him - that itself would upset Zelda - but his blunt remarks were annoying.

"There's not any cake left, but I got some snacks when I went to the store the other day!"

Ion hummed as he put the kettle on, pausing at the little tin. Huh, what was in there...? Best to just leave it for now. He stayed out of the conversation about Zelda, busying himself with making refreshments.

Bristling at Shizuo's warning, Sola scowled at the blonde; he may be friends with Zelda but that doesn't mean he has to like him. "Why? I'm just trying to protect my... my friend."

Right. Friend. That was the word. But it felt different, his feelings for Zelda. He was pretty sure it might be what Johnny called love, but how could he be sure that those feelings were his own and not left over from Link? With everyone else he knew his feelings were his, Link had never met them, but with Zelda... well, it was always more complicated, wasn't it.

He couldn't help but be jealous of Shizuo for having gotten so close.

"She's my friend too," Shizuo said with irritation, "and if you don't want her to get hurt, how do you think I feel?" He folded his arms and looked away from Sola, focusing instead on Ion as he fixed the tea.

"Weren't we supposed to be friends, too?" he asked, keeping his stare elsewhere. Before his came to Vatheon, Shizuo hadn't used that label to describe his relationships. Celty was a good listener, Shinra was a good doctor, and Tom was a good employer - but he had become more comfortable with the term since using it with Zelda. And yeah, it bothered him that Sola thought he'd just go off and hurt Zelda.

"Please, don't fight!" Ion hurried over with the tea, almost slamming it down in front of them in his haste to stop the arguing.

"I mean... I'm sure neither one of you would hurt a friend, alright? So there's no need to argue about it."

Ion went back to get the snacks and set them down more gently.

Ion plunking the tea tray down on the table caused Sola to jump a bit, but it didn't stop him from regarding Shizuo with a confused and mildly hurt look.

"I didn't say she wasn't your friend, I just..." He huffs a bit, looking away so he doesn't have to meet Shizuo's eyes. Er. Sunglasses. "I know you wouldn't hurt her on purpose, but if you get hurt or something, then she'll hurt because she's worried and she cares about you, that's all."

He draws his knees up to his chest, socked toes curling around the lip of the couch cushion. "I don't want you to get hurt either. I don't want anyone to."

"Sorry," Shizuo apologized to Ion, somewhat jolted by the hasty delivery of the tea tray. He wasn't trying to upset anyone, and it was beginning to bother him that talking about Zelda with other people had a habit of getting him in an argument. It was one thing when it was with Izaya, but he didn't want to fight with Sola.

"Forget it," Shizuo mumbled, sighing and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "No one is going to get hurt, so it's okay. You don't need to worry about it."

Ion relaxed, sitting back down himself. There had to be another subject to talk about, something that wouldn't upset anyone...

Oh!

"So, do either of you have any plans for Valentine's Day? It's coming up soon!"

The question had the curious effect of causing Sola to turn a deep shade of red and further hide in the couch cushions with a quick shake of his head. Seems like he's thought about it but that's it.

Shizuo looked at Sola, and then at Ion questioningly. He didn't understand what had Sola so flustered. But since he wasn't answering, Shizuo said to Ion, "I don't have any plans." He had never celebrated the day in the past, and didn't really have any reason to now. Except, maybe he'd do a little something for Zelda. She always did such thoughtful things for him. He'd think on that.

"Do you?"

"I do! I'm going to make chocolates for all my friends! Or, ah, maybe buy some? I can't really cook," he admitted with a laugh. Ion glanced over to Sola, also curious. What had him so worked up?

Oh look, this tea is so captivating he's got his full attention on it lalala...

Johnny had said that the point of Valentine's Day was to spend time with a special someone. At the time he'd thought a friend, maybe Johnny himself, just playing music in the park, but now that Zelda was talking to him, well...

His little educational conversation where Ioder explained what kissing was came back full force.

Shizuo sipped his tea to give Sola a chance to say something, but when he didn't yet again, Shizuo just continued the conversation himself. "I can't cook either. But I think that's a good idea. I bet they'd like that."

"I'm glad you think so!" Ion looked over at Sola. "Sola, are you alright? You look, umm... a little off."

And by a little off, Ion meant that Sola was staring a hole into his teacup.

"I-I'm fine!" He downed his teacup in one gulp, wincing as he swallowed entirely too much liquid at once. "Chocolate is good."

Stop looking at me!

Unfortunately, Shizuo was still a bit oblivious to what exactly has Sola all worked up. He drank more tea and shrugged to Ion. "I might get Zelda something," he said after a moment. "She always does very nice things for me. I wonder if she likes chocolate." He knew she liked cake, so maybe.

Dimly through the rush of blood to his face Sola heard Shizuo idly contemplating Zelda's gift and the world suddenly snapped back into focus. That's right, why was he getting so worked up? Zelda said they're friends, and she may be nice to him now, but that bit of strained sadness in her expression whenever they talk, whenever he does something just a little like Link...

There's no way she could ever feel the way about him that he feels about her. She even had Shizuo to protect her while Link's not here. He was here before Sola, and was stronger and better equipped to do so, after all. Sola was frustratingly aware of his shortcomings, his inability to understand why people do what they do without every bit of minutia being explained. 'She always does very nice things' for Shizuo, huh? She does nice things for me too, but... probably only because she feels like she has to.

And who's to say these feelings of his were real either? If Link felt the same way, then weren't they just left over from when Sola was created as his shadow? He couldn't say anything to her until he'd sorted that out. He wasn't even really sure if he wanted them to be real or not, thinking he knew Zelda's answer if he were ever to act on them.

Sola stood up, setting his teacup down on the tray with a small clatter. "I'm tired, I'm gonna take a nap." Without waiting for an answer, Sola retreated to his bedroom and locked the door behind him.

Ion realized quite suddenly exactly what was wrong with Sola. He stood up halfway before realizing that he couldn't just leave a guest sitting there.

"I-I'm sorry, he's, ah..." he waved his hands about lamely. Ion knew in that moment that he was going to have to ask a very awkward question - but Sola was his friend, and he would ask it.

"You are... just getting her something as a friend, right?"

It wasn't that Shizuo was stupid. He just did not have much experience when it came to relationships - friendships included, but he especially didn't know a lot about romance. It did occur to him, as Sola stood, that maybe he had upset him because Sola wanted to get Zelda something. But then - they could both get her something, so why was he upset?

"I didn't mean -" he started before he fully registered Ion's question. Oh. Oh. That..."No! I mean - yes. I don't - no. It's not like that. I -" He had never thought of Zelda like that - in fact, it had never crossed his mind - but now Sola's reaction made sense.

Shizuo stood, feeling awkward. He fumbled with his glasses, and then patted his pockets for his cigarettes. "I should go," he mumbled. "Tell Sola that I didn't mean - this. Zelda's just my friend."

Ion nodded, quite relieved. Yes, Shizuo was acting awkwardly (who wouldn't after a question like that?), but he wasn't blushing or showing any signs that he wasn't being truthful. "I'll tell him. We can just forget about this next time, alright? Take care, Shizuo."

Shizuo nodded, setting his teacup back on the table. "Thanks," he said, hoping that Ion got that it was for both the healing and the tea - Izaya's tea. In Izaya's house. Talking about Valentine's Day. Maybe this was an event about which Izaya shouldn't be told...

He left, glad for the opportunity to have a cigarette, especially since he still had to tell Zelda about how he hadn't been able to beat that "spiky man."

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Is Ion going to add "special sugar" from Izaya's tin near the tea? WHO KNOWS

lmao oh dear...

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sorry, going out of order because Sola just told me he needs to leave the scene RIGHT now

MY BABY T_T

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