Warning: this contains Kizzy. Some mild language, and references to adult beverages as per the norm. Read responsibly.

This story is a loose continuation of the events from "Drawer Space"….okay, maybe a DIRECT continuation ;)

Step One: Admitting You Have a Problem

Izayoi sat down at the low table, folding her legs neatly beneath her on the floor cushion. Before her was a plate with poached salmon on a bed of rice garnished with lemon and dill. It was fare that was more common of Baron than Eblan, and Izayoi stared at her plate with a sense of foreboding.

Her cousin and Rydia were already seated across from her, and the Seneschal was beside her, appearing thin and tired. The children were nowhere to be found, nor had plates been set for them. At her curious regard, Edge explained.

"It's just the three of us."

"Seneschal is here," Izayoi quickly pointed out, annoyed at how her cousin always forgot to include him.

Edge flicked his gaze in the Seneschal's direction, puzzled. "The four of us, then."

"So," Izayoi said, lifting her fork—her fork? —with a small helping of salmon to her mouth.

"So," Edge replied, staring back at her shrewdly.

"I see you went with rice," she commented with a look of disdain.

"I hoped you would be more interested in the salmon," he said, feigning disappointment.

"Oh, I am," she answered.

"You remember the event we attended in Baron where this was served?" he asked casually.

"Of course I do—the event where you nearly burned down the main hall by throwing a lit candle at Cid? " Izayoi replied.

"In my defense, most candles blow themselves out before reaching the floor," he complained with a grimace.

Izayoi sighed. That had been one of the first delegation details that had driven her to drink. Of course she remembered it. Out of habit she lifted her goblet to her lips but tasted nothing other than cool, unflavored water.

Uh-oh.

Suddenly, all of her cousin's references to Baron were beginning to make sense; and it had been a suspicious length of time since he'd dropped by her dojo and not spoken of it.

They advanced through the first course and went on to the second, and Izayoi noticed, chagrined, that there was not one drop of alcohol to be had with dinner.

Water. Water all around.

"What's going on," she shot at her cousin, eyes narrowed.

Edge was looking more smug than normal—never a good thing.

"Izayoi, I'll be honest—"

"We're concerned about you," Rydia interjected for the first time all evening, pushing her plate aside to glance at Izayoi with sympathetic eyes.

Izayoi straightened her back and laid her hands flat on the table as if bracing for impact. "Are we now."

"Izayoi, it's come to my attention that—"

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"—you have a drinking problem," Cecil told Kain, staring at his friend from across from the table.

"My drinking has never bothered you before," Kain replied, sawing into the roasted pork in front of him with his knife.

Cecil cleared his throat, and Kain finally paused between chews to glare at his friend.

"It was never consistent enough to bother me—now it seems it's every opportunity you can seize," Cecil pointed out.

"Only during important meetings," Kain muttered, thinking his friend's concerns ungrounded.

"Is it true?" Rosa asked, tilting her head the way she did when assessing medical situations.

"That I drink? Yes. That I have a problem? No," Kain retorted, noticing that Cecil looked a bit smug.

"This is an intervention, Kain. The first step is admitting you have a problem," Cecil told him, trying to remain sincere.

"I do have a problem—

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"—and it's you meddling in my affairs," Izayoi retorted, hoping to steer the conversation. "I'm a grown woman, and I can take care of myself."

"This drinking problem that you've developed—it's not entirely your problem anymore," Edge concluded, his serious expression ready to crumble at any moment. Izayoi could practically see his cheek spasm from across the table.

"Is that so?" she asked coolly.

"This isn't something I expected from you," Edge went on.

"And since when are my off duty activities the business of anyone else?" Izayoi hedged.

"Izayoi, are you really so stressed that this is how you cope with your responsibilities?" Rydia asked, genuinely concerned about the situation.

" Let me ask you, dear cousin—has this ever interrupted my duties and obligations?" Izayoi answered, ignoring Rydia's question.

"You tell me, Izayoi. Has it?"

The seneschal cleared his throat, aware that there was tension in the room, but unable to determine what or why. "Am I to understand that this is a disciplinary hearing?" he asked, baffled.

"My drinking has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with my—

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"—job performance," Kain complained, about ready to throttle Cecil for even suggesting it.

"You've been late often in the last seven months, and your scheduled delegations have habitually run longer than planned."

"Stop sending me halfway across the world on your ridiculous errands, then," Kain retorted.

Cecil briefly broke character, conspiratorially leaning forward. "You know as well as I, that a ferry system between Eblan and Baron would be more useful than giving Edge an airship."

"Just give him the ship," Kain said, exasperated. "He'll stop complaining, and then you'll get your damn ferry system. Only after."

Cecil let out a deep sigh, leaning back again. "That isn't the point—the point is that you're using delegation duty as a means to indulge your vice."

Kain narrowed his eyes at his friend, amused that despite the conversation, his goblet had been filled with red wine. Clearly, this had nothing to do with drinking at all.

"You're captain of the Red Wings," Cecil continued. "How am I supposed to send you places with behavior like this? You're supposed to set a good example for your men and most of all, your apprentice."

Kain snorted. "And here I thought this meeting was to discuss my apprentice's bad example on your son."

Rosa nodded, glancing at her husband. "Yes, there is that."

"I'd like to know how long—"

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"—this has been going on," Edge insisted, crossing his arms as he glared at Izayoi.

She clenched and unclenched her fists, fighting the urge to throw something across the table. Her fork would do nicely.

"For about as long as you've been asking me to accomplish the ludicrous," she seethed, wondering why he was still beating about the bush.

"Whose stores have you emptied more of by this point. Baron's or mine?" Edge needled.

"Does it matter?" she asked, suspiciously.

"It does," he answered.

"I haven't noticed," she replied, shrugging.

"So you'd say it's equally divided," Edge fished.

"About."

"I'm confused—are we still on the same topic?" Rydia asked, brows drawn together.

"I don't like it, Izayoi," Edge complained.

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"You wouldn't," Kain answered.

"I thought that this contract would have been agreed to and signed by now—not seven months' worth of back and forth visits and tales of your drinking exploits."

"Are you implying that I'm not doing my job?"

"I wonder if you might have another reason for taking so long."

"I think you should just give Edge the airship he asked for."

"If I gave him an airship, I'd be obligated to give every kingdom an airship."

"We have an entire fleet; enough for two fleets, at least. Why would we possibly need so many?"

"I won't budge on my terms," Cecil insisted.

"Then stop complaining that this process is taking so long."

Cecil's expression flattened. "The more time that is wrapped up into these negotiations, the less I have of you here."

"Why on earth do you want me here?" Kain asked, perplexed.

"You're my best friend, Kain. That, and you have other obligations here to your men."

"You could always assign someone else to go," Kain suggested, not really understanding what Cecil was trying to accomplish by this entire conversation.

"Do you want me to assign someone else?" Cecil asked lightly.

This made Kain pause. He attempted to disguise it by swirling his wine goblet and slowly taking a drink, but he could tell Cecil had already detected the reason for his not being eager for reassignment.

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"You're worried I might not come back," Izayoi realized, grinning wickedly.

Her cousin's expression finally broke and he chuckled exasperatedly. "Do you have any idea how many people I went through before incorporating you into the Eblan Four?"

Izayoi made a face. "I thought I was the first person you had in mind, and it was everyone else you had trouble finding."

Edge paused abnormally long. "Sure."

"Regardless of what happens, it's ultimately my decision."

"This puts me in an awkward position. This means I'll be short handed should you decide to up and leave."

Izayoi sneered. "You're way off track, and I don't appreciate the suppositions."

"What are we talking about?" Rydia demanded, glaring at both her husband and Izayoi.

Edge grinned. "Should I be assigning you a chaperone?" he asked. "It would only be appropriate."

Izayoi pinned him with a dour look, understanding the direction he was taking. "Like I was a chaperone for you? Please."

Rydia's expression had become doubly puzzled. "This has—nothing to do with drinking, does it?"

Edge glanced at his wife. "Izayoi has a Kain problem," he finally explained.

"Is it because of his drinking problem?" Rydia asked, frowning.

Edge stared blandly at his wife, evidently annoyed that she hadn't figured out the joke. "No, Rydia, it's because—"

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"Kain is in love with Izayoi," Cecil announced, bringing dinner to a screeching halt.

Kain spewed a mist of red wine all over his plate.

"What?" Rosa asked, stunned. "I thought this was about his drinking?"

Cecil closed his eyes, fighting the urge to roll them at his wife.

"Who do you think it is that Kain drinks with?" Cecil asked her.

"Izayoi?" Rosa asked, perplexed. "All this time, it's been Izayoi?"

"The two of them haven't exactly been forthcoming."

Kain glared at his friend, annoyed at how the entire conversation had been an elaborate song and dance.

"How did youfind out?" Kain finally asked, after wiping the wine off his chin.

"Edge," Cecil explained, holding up a neatly folded paper crane with a lopsided grin on his face. "Received this a few weeks ago. Apparently Edge is worried he might be losing one of his most talented subjects to your charms."

Kain sighed, unsure of how to proceed.

"Izayoi," Rosa repeated, looking as though she'd swallowed wrong.

In that moment, Kain was relieved to be interrupted by a messenger who had arrived for him with a note.

He took it from the messenger's hand and instantly frowned. The note had been folded as a paper crane with sharp creases and shapely folds. He opened it hesitantly, and written in Izayoi's precise hand and dated from several days earlier, it read:

"We have a problem."

Kain looked up and across the table at Cecil and Rosa. Cecil was decidedly amused. Rosa—horrified.

Kain downed the rest of his wine, not sure if "problem" quite did their situation justice…

~Fin~

A/N:

Here ya' go, Moonclaw, now you can stop complaining, lol

Expect more of these two in the coming weeks. Apparently I only have the attention span for short stories, and not 20k beast chapters at the moment...

This is full of inside jokes and lots of references to other Kizzy stories posted. I recommend reading the others by both myself and Moonclaw, lol ;)

Thank you to those of you following this quirky pairing and reading all of this! And don't forget to review!

Until next update…

~Myth