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31_days2011-04-20 11:02 am
seta-suzume.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2011-04-20 11:02 am
[April 20] [Durarara!!/Miss Don't Touch Me] Competitive Fields
Title: Competitive Fields
Day/Theme: April 20, 2011 "mud on the tongue"
Series: crossover - Durarara!! x Miss Don't Touch Me
Character/Pairing: Izaya & Blanche (Shizuo/Izaya)
Rating: PG
Author's comment: Same universe/somewhat related to In Any Case, Try Many Things.
"Shizuo told me you've been acting thriftier than usual," Blanche commented. Instead of allowing her eyes to pry into Izaya's mind, she dropped her gaze down into her cup of coffee. She'd added several lumps of sugar to her drink, but Izaya had left his black as usual. Black seemed his favorite way of handling most things- coffee, clothing, romance. Any outward sweetness in his character was artificial.
She hoped her manner of inquiry had come off innocuous enough to keep from wounding Izaya's slightly-more-fragile-than-he-wanted-known pride. Although Blanche considered the information broker something of a friend, as far as she could determine no one had particularly "normal" relationships with Izaya. ...And if you were currently on the outs with him, he possessed the ability to make your life exceptionally miserable.
"Ah," Izaya tilted the conversation to his advantage, "So you're still seeing Shizu-chan? On the clock or off the clock?"
Blanche felt her face burning up. "Th-that's strictly confidential and you know that, Izaya!"
"So he does keep seeing you," Izaya grinned. Gathering information was what he did, and there were none who would profess he was not good at it.
"He didn't tell me about your money problems then!" she squeaked, losing some of her tact to nervousness. "We were taking a walk along the river when he brought up how he'd seen you purchasing a whole crate of discount ramen to take home. Of course, that's not the kind of thing I can really take seriously, but it wasn't his only evidence."
"Well, it sounds like Shizu-chan's got some pretty deep pockets nowadays," Izaya sniffed. "I may've lost a little of my liquid funds to a business venture that didn't go as planned, but at least I'm making it back at a steady rate. Between the fees I've been charging him- and I know you're not cheap either- all on his debt collector salary..."
"Wait." Something about Izaya's chuckling rant struck her as unusual. "Did you just say that Shizuo has been paying you for something?"
"Eh? Did I say something like that?"
"I can't imagine he would ever come to you in regards to your regular business; he doesn't seem to think all that highly of what you do. ...And would he really be patronizing you so frequently that you could recover a significant loss as a result of him?"
Izaya was too savvy to melt beneath Blanche's sternly questing gaze. "Maybe I should stop talking about my methods around you! You're learning too much from me."
"Oh, I don't plan on stealing all your customers. I don't get half the pleasure for it you do, even if I could hold a candle to the master," Blanche shook her head slowly, "I know you have the same respect for how I conduct my business...don't you?"
It wasn't as if Blanche had managed to crack through his defenses, but Izaya was beginning to find the whole conversation so bizarrely ludicrous that he couldn't resist cluing Blanche in to the truth she was prancing so delicately around. "Well, you know it's a competitive business, right, Blanche? So I've snared one of your customers into my web. What can you do? I'm just giving the man what he wants!"
Blanche didn't think that between Izaya and Shizuo it seemed quite fair for payment to be involved. ...But then again, these were Shizuo and Izaya. She wouldn't say a thing.
Day/Theme: April 20, 2011 "mud on the tongue"
Series: crossover - Durarara!! x Miss Don't Touch Me
Character/Pairing: Izaya & Blanche (Shizuo/Izaya)
Rating: PG
Author's comment: Same universe/somewhat related to In Any Case, Try Many Things.
"Shizuo told me you've been acting thriftier than usual," Blanche commented. Instead of allowing her eyes to pry into Izaya's mind, she dropped her gaze down into her cup of coffee. She'd added several lumps of sugar to her drink, but Izaya had left his black as usual. Black seemed his favorite way of handling most things- coffee, clothing, romance. Any outward sweetness in his character was artificial.
She hoped her manner of inquiry had come off innocuous enough to keep from wounding Izaya's slightly-more-fragile-than-he-wanted-known pride. Although Blanche considered the information broker something of a friend, as far as she could determine no one had particularly "normal" relationships with Izaya. ...And if you were currently on the outs with him, he possessed the ability to make your life exceptionally miserable.
"Ah," Izaya tilted the conversation to his advantage, "So you're still seeing Shizu-chan? On the clock or off the clock?"
Blanche felt her face burning up. "Th-that's strictly confidential and you know that, Izaya!"
"So he does keep seeing you," Izaya grinned. Gathering information was what he did, and there were none who would profess he was not good at it.
"He didn't tell me about your money problems then!" she squeaked, losing some of her tact to nervousness. "We were taking a walk along the river when he brought up how he'd seen you purchasing a whole crate of discount ramen to take home. Of course, that's not the kind of thing I can really take seriously, but it wasn't his only evidence."
"Well, it sounds like Shizu-chan's got some pretty deep pockets nowadays," Izaya sniffed. "I may've lost a little of my liquid funds to a business venture that didn't go as planned, but at least I'm making it back at a steady rate. Between the fees I've been charging him- and I know you're not cheap either- all on his debt collector salary..."
"Wait." Something about Izaya's chuckling rant struck her as unusual. "Did you just say that Shizuo has been paying you for something?"
"Eh? Did I say something like that?"
"I can't imagine he would ever come to you in regards to your regular business; he doesn't seem to think all that highly of what you do. ...And would he really be patronizing you so frequently that you could recover a significant loss as a result of him?"
Izaya was too savvy to melt beneath Blanche's sternly questing gaze. "Maybe I should stop talking about my methods around you! You're learning too much from me."
"Oh, I don't plan on stealing all your customers. I don't get half the pleasure for it you do, even if I could hold a candle to the master," Blanche shook her head slowly, "I know you have the same respect for how I conduct my business...don't you?"
It wasn't as if Blanche had managed to crack through his defenses, but Izaya was beginning to find the whole conversation so bizarrely ludicrous that he couldn't resist cluing Blanche in to the truth she was prancing so delicately around. "Well, you know it's a competitive business, right, Blanche? So I've snared one of your customers into my web. What can you do? I'm just giving the man what he wants!"
Blanche didn't think that between Izaya and Shizuo it seemed quite fair for payment to be involved. ...But then again, these were Shizuo and Izaya. She wouldn't say a thing.