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"Hey! Why did you just Wolf Strike me? I'm on the fuckin’ ground now!"
"Shizu-chan, I'm confused! I have been for a while."
"Why the hell hasn't Estelle healed you!?"
"I don't know! Oh wait, wait, she just died."
"Fuck!" Shizuo nearly cracked his controller in half as he managed to activate a mystic arte once he got off the ground. Flynn screamed, "Kouryuu Metsugasou!" while attacking in a slew of stunning cinematic animations. The monster finally let out a death rattle once the arte was finished, and Shizuo hung his head in relief. They made it out on their last legs. "Holy christ, I thought my heart was gonna give out."
Izaya glowered from where he sat on the floor, wholly unimpressed. "We could've gotten at least 8 more points of grade for that boss. You barely made use of your shield, not to mention you left the rest of us hanging; Estelle couldn't heal me because she was trying to keep your sorry ass alive! How hard is it to send out some gels to your, I don't know, dying teammates?" He was becoming increasingly disgruntled the more he spoke, and he frowned at the screen as it displayed his own character, Yuri, hunched over and heaving for breath. He was barely hanging on to a sliver of HP, and that was not settling well.
Shizuo slumped back against the bottom of the couch, looking a tad ashamed but unable to admit it. Instead, he brought his crossed knees up tighter to his chest and got defensive. "Don't give me that shit when it was your idea to play on Unknown, you fuckin' grade whore!"
"Oh, forgive me, I forgot that you can't handle anything more than Normal mode, casual." Izaya spat the insult out like it tasted bad, and sneered with glee when Shizuo looked like he'd just had acid thrown in his face.
"Get out of my house. Now." He was seething with leashed rage, and the controller in his hand whined under his harsh grip. Shizuo noticed and released it, not having enough leeway in his budget to buy another if he broke it. It was already the second one this month.
Izaya scoffed and turned up his nose, calculating the level of anger apparent and judging how much further he could push before he was tossed out a window. "Are you sure about that? You've got no chance at the platinum trophy without me."
Shizuo stopped short of rising to his feet and balanced on his haunches, debating. It was true; even though Izaya pitched a fit about playing on any difficulty other than Unknown, when he did play, he sure as hell picked up the slack. AI just couldn't compare to the teamwork they developed between Flynn and Yuri. Shizuo went in hard and fast while Izaya capitalized on the distractions and weaknesses left open by his frontal assault. And even though they had to fight for every inch on Unknown, victory was almost always assured.
Well, he thought. There were the unusual exceptions. Like when certain people get confused and you forget to make Rita hand out the panacea bottle... but that was in the past, as far as he was concerned. He looked up from where he'd been burning a hole in the carpeting and said, "We better get it this time around. I don't think you'll survive a third playthrough. And we only got another two hours left to play before my brother comes home, so get ready for some grinding."
Izaya smirked in victory. He would get that platinum trophy no matter what he had to do or what he had to say. He smiled and patted the floor beside him, gesturing for Shizuo to get comfortable again, and pressed the button to start up the after-boss cutscene. He tuned out the ensuing chaos; while he loved the game, he'd beaten it once not a week before, and the second playthrough was all about the glory of secret mission trophies, costume titles, and rare items and armor. Izaya would skip the scene if he could, but Shizuo would have his head. No deflecting of his would stop that sentimental oaf from tearing his throat out if he interrupted a dramatic cutscene.
But he still couldn't help himself. Besides, who were they if they weren't having a good spat every two minutes? Izaya checked his imaginary watch; he figured nearly three had gone by.
"Shizu-chan."
"Muh?" Was the caveman grunt he got in response.
Izaya sidled over on his knees, and got close enough to puff hot air into the shell of Shizuo's ear. He dialed his voice down to sultry, and whispered, "Who do you think would bottom, Yuri or Flynn? I'd bet my money on Flynn; I bet that underneath his bluster and justice, he's aching," Izaya paused to insinuate that word along the flushing skin of Shizuo's cheek, "for Yuri's particular brand of punishment. But what do you think?"
He watched the widening of eyes and the spread of that blush for a split second, and then immediately stood to start running, but his ankle had been grabbed just as quickly. Shizuo used that leverage to gain more, and by then Izaya was being grappled and tugged towards the open window.
Izaya hoped he wouldn't land on the trash can this time.
END