you know where to find me for no particular reason

[contrition]

After carefully wandering by the darkest allies and scouring all of the popular hangouts of the city, it quickly becomes apparent that most people's haunt of choice for information is Semele's. A restaurant that purports itself to be open to all in a far more literal way than most other businesses. Inside its walls, it's not a question of faith, not a question of ethnic background — instead, the lines of humanity itself are blurred and broken past.

He can feel it as soon as it steps into the place, singling out demons of different kinds. Here, affecting a quiet and unassuming personality doesn't seem to matter. He's not fooling most of them.

They look, they assess, and some turn away without a second thought. Others watch him closely, only relaxing back into conversation after he's passed.

Every group, on face, looks like a regular crowd out to dinner. No one mutters anything along the lines of exorcist or hunter. It's the attention that stands out. Nothing about Yukio is meant to call attention to himself, not while he's playing the civilian.

After speaking briefly with the too tall, too blond bartender, Yukio gets permission to step to the back of the restaurant, where the blinds of the manager's office seem to be open and a pair of bright green eyes peeks out. Though he's already caught the attention of the man, Yukio frowns and raises a hand to knock anyway. It seems polite.

"I'm sorry," he says, ducking his head inside. "I was told that you are the owner of this establishment. Do you have a minute to spare?"

Comments

[goodfella]

"I'm a busy man," Robin replies, smug and dismissive, but the look in his eye when he meets the young man's face tells a different story. He isn't quite sizing the kid up, but the term could be applied, if you didn't want to split hairs. Robin nods toward the chair in front of his desk, putting his work aside and folding his hands loosely in front of himself. His mouth splits into a smile, a little too broad, a little too much like a hungry and indiscreet tiger shark. It isn't that he means this kid ill, but he can already tell, he's a little fun.

Robin has a lot of definitions for that word.

"Ishiah tossed me a note that you wanted to speak with the owner, specifically. You don't look like the type looking for a job, or looking to invest, so why don't you start by telling me what you are looking for? And then we can introduce ourselves. You want?" he asks, tipping a tray of pretty hard candies toward him.

Robin already has a fair idea of what his name might be. After all, you don't run across eyes like those in a face like that very often. Those are good eyes.

[contrition]

He's immediately reminded of Mephisto, but with more teeth and wider eyes. Yukio's not sure that he appreciates the difference, feeling at once scrutinized, though it doesn't stop him from walking easily into the room and closing the door behind him.

It's not a conversation he wants that particular audience to overhear.

"I'm looking for information," Yukio answers, his expression even and carefully neutral as he steps closer to the desk, not yet sitting. He hasn't been invited to do that just yet. "About the city, and about one of your customers. And no, thank you." He shakes his head at the candy dish.

Probably too obvious to be poisoned, but still. Yukio doesn't like owing favors.

[goodfella]

"You're in luck," Robin says, dropping the candy tray. He plucks a last little orange butterscotch piece out of the contents; they're clearly a personal favorite. Without hesitation, Robin pops it into his mouth, talking around it without worry about decorum. "Info is what I do. Would you take your coat off and have a seat? Or at least have a seat, you're making me nervous, kid."

Robin leans forward again, smoothing his tie down against his chest before resting his elbows on his desk.

"Sometimes it even comes cheap, but not always. Who are you looking for information on? That's an important detail." After all, what Robin needs to know, is whether or not he's harmed by sharing it. That he benefits is actually less of a concern He's fully willing to give away something for nothing, if it suits his whim.

[contrition]

You don't seem very nervous, Yukio thinks to himself, although he wouldn't blame the man for being wary. However young and seemingly inexperienced he looks coming to the owner's doorstep, he still has the courage enough to do so with his head held high. And that conviction, if nothing else, has carried Yukio through situations that he probably wouldn't be expected to manage at all.

Unbuttoning his coat, but not yet shrugging it off, Yukio sinks to a seat in the chair across from Yukio's own.

"There's no point in denying what you've probably already noticed," Yukio says, watching the bright green of the man's eyes intensely. Something about it reminds him of deep forests, more than it does a potential window into his personality. "I'm looking for information on Okumura Rin. And how he has fared since arriving in the city. What dangers this place poses to him."

[goodfella]

"I can't offer you much," Robin says, apology honest in his voice. He doesn't offer one very often, but knowing things is something of a matter of personal pride, and the fact is, Robin doesn't know a whole hell of a lot. Not in Robin's opinion, anyway. There were individuals in Darrow that he could name the last ten items off of their last shopping list, if he was asked to. Okumura Rin wasn't one of those.

Simply because ... Robin couldn't find him to be much of a threat. More pathetic than Caliban, he was an individual whose milk teeth, Robin thought, would probably never drop out.

"That person is the child of a demon and a human, about sixteen years of age, and does do some work in exorcism and monster hunting in this city. His name's been out there, but feelings are mixed. His girlfriend is an employee of mine, which is really why I take any interest at all. Normally, someone like myself stays very far away from the business of demons and angels and that manner of individual. Well, and also, my partner is schooling him casually. That would be Ishiah, the bartender."

[contrition]

To be frank, to learn that Robin doesn't know much about Rin is a relief. Robin happens to be one of the more informed individuals within the city, and the less that someone like Rin registers on his radar, the better. Unfortunately, Yukio also already knows for a fact that there are some people who have made it their goal to find him, people who operate out of principle as opposed to interest. He needs to find more out about them.

The mention of Ishiah piques his curiosity.

"Feelings are mixed. Do you know of any people who feel... particularly negatively?" Yukio asks, before leaning slightly back in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't want to force you closer to matters that you normally shy away from. Your partner, however, is an interesting man. You don't mind his involvement?"

[goodfella]

"There are some," Robin admits He raises both arms to give a demonstrative shrug. "But, it's like I said, I avoid that whole business. There are people in this city who consider themselves monster hunters, or whatever you'd like. The ones that are on the tail - pun intended - of your little brother are the type that do so mostly out of reasons of faith. It isn't my business. I am no demon." With a name like Goodfellow, he's reasonably sure this youth can figure out what 'not a demon' entails.

"Ishiah is another matter, however. Without being unnecessarily cagey - since you seem to be well capable of sussing out a truth you want to get your hands on at any rate - Ishiah is a peri. A creature that used to be an angel. His interest in your brother is purely from the viewpoint of a being who would rather mean well for him, and hope the best for him. Because it avoids an unpleasant alternative, for Ishiah. I assume so, anyway." Robin offers his smile again, more of a fox's grin than a human expression.

"Neither of us would take any great pleasure in the killing of children."

[contrition]

"If only great pleasure were the only reason anyone had for doing anything," Yukio replies, brows furrowed as he takes in the information that Robin has to offer. Getting a sense of Robin's motivations, however more of a gray area they may be, feels easier than the rest of the assessing he's done of the city.

In some respects, Darrow feels very much like the image of a city painted over blank walls, roads made to look like they stretch beyond where the edge of the city actually stands. But Robin, who acts on whim and enjoyment, is a concrete part in the greater environment.

Leaning forward, Yukio stares through slightly narrowed eyes. "Ishiah would not be the first person I've met who has or claims to have some connection to angels. But he didn't strike me as very similar to the previous individual I met. They hail from different constructs, I assume?"

[goodfella]

"Correct," Robin says. "Give the kid a cigar."

With amusement writ on his curling features, Robin reaches forward to pluck the last remaining gold butterscotch disc out of the assorted candies. He tags at the wrapper with his opposite hand, mulling over the differences that Yukio had brought up.

"Ishiah is from the reality that I called home before arriving in Darrow. Castiel is not. Although, formerly, they were both angelic beings. Created by a father god as dutiful soldier-children. Ishiah left that life a very long time ago, to become something else. Although he could always return, so far as I am aware. Castiel is different. He's left his home much more recently. Very much. Compared to Ishiah, Castiel is ... much less human, and much less mortal. Although he tries," Robin says, putting a seal of approval on the behavior either way Perhaps he hasn't directly said so, but he's certainly suggested that 'human and mortal' runs to his preference.

[contrition]

Castiel. When the same name comes up in conversation, Yukio takes a breath, carefully measured but relieved, in a sense. Not because it really makes any true difference, but because it gives Yukio something of an idea about the being. Robin is, if not necessarily someone who would ally himself with Yukio, still a more objective third party than the words dropped from the angel Castiel's lips themselves.

"The second angel, Castiel, came across as the greater threat," Yukio says, holding his gaze level. There's no point denying the threat when it's been waved in front of him like a red flag upon their very first encounter. Conceding his wariness might yield more information.

"Proceeded to list various feats he is capable of, though that worries me less than what motivates him in this city. You say less human, less mortal. It doesn't sound that you think too positively of such traits."

[goodfella]

“I don’t know what motivates Castiel, aside from Dean Winchester,” Robin admits with a soft shrug. “In that respect, I agree. Castiel is far more worrisome than Ishiah, and would be, even if I weren’t so close to Ishiah myself. I don’t understand Castiel well. But trying to understand him has never been a priority for me. He is a friend, I suppose, but ... I am fond of him for now, but that could change, as could anything,” he finishes.

“It’s true that those are some of the traits in him, and in anything else, that I find the least favorable. As far as monsters go, I’m not much of a monster At least, not these days. Humans are special. Not because I think they are special to the greater picture, or that there is anything inherently special about them. But to me. They’re more valuable than other things.”

[contrition]

"An angel who is only motivated by a person," Yukio remarks softly, his eyes narrowing. That would explain the lack of care in every other regard. No compunctions about invading someone's mind for information if deemed necessary, but enough of a brushed human sensibility that he refrained. If the angel is acting on the leash of a human, it might make sense.

Letting out a soft sigh, there's a small window of time for which Yukio's shoulders sad, and his expression quickly regresses into that of a child his age. The exhaustion of having built up trust and repute, only to have it torn down in an instant. He doesn't have the right to consider himself as knowledgeable as an adult in this city.

"While you are motivated by humanity on the whole. That makes for an interesting pair of individuals, Goodfellow-san. I can only hope that you consider my brother and myself human enough for your liking."

He raises his gaze back to meet Robin's. "Forgive me for my rudeness. My name is Okumura Yukio."

[goodfella]

"I wouldn't call it a leash. Not because I have any particular conceit where that's concerned, but just because it would be imprecise. And imprecision can come back and bite you in the ass. As I'm sure you well know," Robin says, amusement brightening the mossy shade of his eyes. He pops the unwrapped butterscotch into the pocket of his cheek and gives it a thoughtful roll around his mouth.

"You're plenty human for my tastes. You and your brother, Okumura Yukio. Is Yukio fine, or are you a picky sort? Names are important, after all."

[contrition]

Yukio's eyes narrow at the bright tone that Robin affords him, resentful and suspicious of the look in the man's eyes. The eyes of someone who doesn't mind watching the suffering of people — even turns an eye towards it to watch the trainwreck. And he is, indeed, very tired of feeling like he and his brother are in the midst of a trainwreck.

"Yukio is fine," he says, tone measured. "Names are important, yes. But what and who goes far beyond a name. Should I ask about you now, Mr. Goodfellow?"