Casual Encounters (Durarara!!) *Izaya/OC*

17. One Jump Ahead

Quitting alcohol entirely was not easy... If it had been anything other than her pride at stake then Ritchie wouldn't even have bothered with it. As it was, she was determined to prove to Izaya that she could do it. Even if she had to resort to drinking at least several cans of energy drinks a day just to stay sane.

And what made the situation even worse was that Izaya had been increasingly boring over the past few weeks. He'd clearly been onto some new gossip that had interested him, because he was away from his apartment more and more... And when he was there he was usually absorbed by whatever was on his computer screen.

This did not bode well for Ritchie's already agitated state, brought on by her withdrawal symptoms from the absence of alcohol. Things with Izaya were always interesting - everything always came down to a new game, a new challenge, a new fight for control... He'd been the most exciting thing in her life since she'd moved to Ikebukuro, as much as she hated to admit it.

And now that he wasn't playing ball anymore it was making her extremely frustrated. She couldn't find the same level of excitement elsewhere... Nothing else was quite the same. She'd come to rely on his interesting lifestyle entirely and that realisation just annoyed her even more.

She'd conceded that whatever Izaya was working on, he wasn't going to let her in on it. Not yet anyway. Like everything else, he'd work it to his own advantage. Well screw him... Maybe she didn't want to know what it was. She'd just have to make her own entertainment... But that was easier said than done.

Hanging around the club after her shifts didn't really appeal to her now that she could no longer drink. She wasn't really that dependent on alcohol - she'd had plenty of nights out in the past where she'd barely drank anything without even realising - but wanting what she couldn't have just made her feel permanently pissed off.

She was so glad that she had Sei to rely on right now. Sei had sympathised with her situation - she'd learnt how dull it could be when your boyfriend was occupied with other things back from when Reita had bought his first electric guitar. He hadn't left his apartment in two weeks and when he had it had only been to buy more guitar picks.

So she understood the whole thing perfectly. And she made sure that she put plenty of time aside to try and help Ritchie satisfy her boredom. It wasn't quite the solution Ritchie had wanted... But she was still grateful. And short of Izaya going back to normal, it was the best she could ask for.

"How many of those have you had?" Sei asked as Ritchie grabbed another can of energy drink, having only just discarded the one she'd finished moments before.

"Only three today," Ritchie replied, cracking the ring pull on her fourth one.

Sei laughed. "Are you telling me that's an improvement?"

Ritchie grinned back. "You'd be surprised."

Sei just shook her head, still chuckling. "You're gonna end up overflowing our recycling bin!"

So far they'd spent the evening in their pyjamas, watching Disney movies. It was a typically girly sleepover, which was unusual for Ritchie, but she found that she actually really enjoyed it. It was a nice change. At first it had caused a pang of sadness, since it had been Maddie who she'd used to watch Disney stuff with... But after a while Ritchie had completely forgotten about it.

She'd realised that Sei was actually way more fun to watch them with. Her friend also came up with the amusing anecdote that there was at least one 'slut character' in every Disney movie, even the animal based ones.

"Just look at her! That lion is totally on it!" exclaimed Sei, as they watched Nala recline back in the leaves with a rather sultry look on her face.