Day 56: Bus 3

[rocksthecourt]

Waking carried a sense of disappointment along with it for the first time in a long time. Klavier actually sighed in irritation when he realized where he was. Damn it all. So they hadn't managed to move quickly enough to cover as much ground as they had hoped. It was a shame, really. Last night had actually proven to be relatively productive. If

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[predictator]

While last night hadn't been as informative about his captors as Izaya would have liked, at least he'd managed to gather something of a more personal nature: specifically information about one of the Americans here. There was little he could or would do with that information yet, but it was something, and that was a start. The web had to be built up thread by thread, and the radials to support it were slowly being put into place

[poorexample]

Castiel and his brother had not gotten very far in their search of the second floor when night had ended once more. The angel couldn't say that he was that shocked by the sudden switch from night to day at this point, but it was rather frustrating. He didn't know if Gabriel was somehow a count of bad luck, but it seemed that whenever he was with his sibling the night seemed to go by much faster

[predictator]

He'd seen Castiel almost immediately after looking up from the items he'd been given, and it didn't take the mysterious man long to join in him in the back. Izaya was somewhat disappointed-with company for the trip, he wouldn't be able to utilized his vantage point as well as he would have been able to alone.

But at this time, it wouldn't do to give Castiel reason to think he was unwelcome. Izaya smiled politely, gesturing towards the empty seat beside him. "Please, go ahead," he said. "Though I'll warn you I have a few questions... I've been wanting to talk to you since the other night."

Overall, it was true; even if he would have rather observed those in the bus this morning, he had wanted to speak with Castiel again. Of course, the questions he most wanted answers to were ones that he couldn't ask this soon, this directly, but there were others: questions about the other night, about the teleportation, about Castiel's string of visits and the girl he'd attacked... It was all so interesting!

[poorexample]

It was hardly surprising that Orihara had a number of questions after what Castiel had put him through the other night. Gabriel had taken issue with that decision, and in this moment Castiel could understand why. It was going to be difficult to avoid direct answers to what Orihara was bound to ask, and yet he imagined that his experience with the Winchesters while he'd still been working for Heaven had prepared him well for evasive responses

[predictator]

What would he like to ask? Oh, where to start!

A part of him-a curious, impatient part-wanted to cut straight to the main issues: what was Castiel, to be able to teleport? Who was that man he'd seen, and who was the Joshua he'd heard mentioned? He'd ascertained from his notes on the bulletin yesterday that Castiel did know someone named Joshua-someone who wasn't Izaya himself (and he would have to keep the name on his dog tags and his new card hidden from Castiel in order to prevent suspicion). But knowing who Joshua wasn't didn't help much in learning who he was.

But despite his curiosity in those matters, he would start small.

"Ah, well..." he started, trailing off as he decided which smaller matters to start with, to use to test the waters. "I'm still a bit in awe, actually. I had never heard of someone being able to teleport in reality, so I've been trying to figure out how it's possible..." and what that made Castiel. "But more importantly: did you continue to test the limits of your returned ability last night?

[poorexample]

It seemed that Orihara really was a normal human if he was completely unused to the idea of something like teleportation being possible, though Castiel had assumed that from the start. From what he'd observed, however, most humans couldn't deny the existence of something when they were given exact proof such as that. It was why he'd bothered to go visit both Sam and Dean -- in the hopes that he could somehow force them to believe him.

He wasn't certain if it had worked, though. It was possible he'd just made things worseThe easiest part of the question to answer was the last portion of it, even if it also involved bad news. It wasn't something he wanted to admit to himself, but... "It seems those effects were temporary," he said with a small shake of his head. The bus started up then, and he could feel the vehicle moving under him with even more strength than Dean's car. It made sense, of course, since the bus was much larger

[predictator]

A corner of Izaya's mouth tightened as Castiel spoke.

It was surprisingly disappointing to hear that Castiel's restored ability was no longer quite so restored. There was normalcy in not being able to teleport-and the fact that someone who was quite obviously abnormal had that forced upon him was exciting because he would have to react and adapt-but the fact stood that it really would have been a useful ability to have on his side. Izaya could have made use of it... but as Castiel said, the one chance had been, regretfully, squandered.

He'd already heard tell of 'strange occurrences' that night, of course-he'd seen a handful of notes on the bulletin board yesterday in regards to memory loss, unusual clumsiness, etc. If Castiel's own ability returning was linked to that... or more importantly, if the things Izaya had seen were

[poorexample]

It was a relief that Orihara wasn't taking Castiel's lack of consideration to heart. It seemed that he had found the experience interesting in its own way, and Castiel was simply grateful that his flighty actions hadn't led to the human being harmed in any way. There were a few things about Orihara that were odd -- wouldn't most humans have been frightened rather than excited about such a situation? -- but he'd agreed to help him, and that was not something to take lightly in this place, where his allies were so few

[predictator]

The information Castiel shared wasn't much, but even the smallest pieces would eventually add up to a larger, more complete picture... And amidst the pieces he'd just shared, there was a gem.

"Dead?" he repeated, trying to sound incredulous. It wasn't hard. "Ah... I read something like that on the bulletin board before-that there were a fair number of people who claimed they or others had been dead-but it all sounded so fantastical, I thought of it as nothing more than a joke. But that girl... she was really, truly dead?"

Even after having seen Castiel's no-longer-dead acquaintance with his own eyes, it still seemed more like something out of a fantasy than reality... but Izaya wasn't going to dismiss the notion just because it appeared larger-than-life. Coming back to life as if you'd never died at all was just as-no, it was even better than an afterlife. A lack of 'consideration for the flow of time' suited Izaya just fine. How was such a feat possible, how had it been done, and how could he repeat it for himself

[poorexample]

Even though Castiel was aware of all sorts of supernatural creatures and events, even he had to admit that coming back from the dead was hardly normal. More than that, it wasn't supposed to be possible. It should have only worked through deals with the devil or an act of God

[predictator]

Interesting, interesting! Of course, all the rumors of time travel made this particular case he'd come personally into contact with less interesting than it could have been, since it meant that she had not, in fact, been brought back to life in the strictest sense-she was only back from the dead from Castiel's point of view. But just the fact that she was here when Castiel was so sure she had died was fascinating... This place may not have been the most pleasant place to stay on the whole, but being here was certainly far preferable to death and there were so many, many interesting people

[poorexample]

Orihara had a good point about the reasoning behind Ruby's reluctance to believe him. Enemies were naturally going to be wary of each other, but Castiel couldn't forget the fact that demons were the ones who were known for being untrustworthy, not angels. He'd had that point proved wrong by his superiors, of course, but he was well aware of his own incapacity to lie. He was good at withholding information, but out and out lying was another thing entirely

[predictator]

Ruby. Izaya noted the name, but not for the reason he'd told Castiel he'd wanted to know it. Quite the opposite, in fact: he wanted to know whom it was he wanted to keep an eye on, and Castiel's warning only made him ever more curious. Ruby could be the key to answering several questions, after all...

He might just need to arrange a meeting.

When Castiel changed the subject to their deal, Izaya nodded once. "Tonight would be fine," he said. "Let's meet in that same place as before... Ah, assuming that's acceptable, of course. We can arrange another location if need be." The main hall was a central enough location that even with his own recent room change, it was more convenient than meeting elsewhere... However, if Castiel had other ideas, Izaya didn't mind continuing to be accommodating. It would be a shame to ruin what was (he hoped) a good impression too soon.

[poorexample]

It was difficult to judge whether his warning had been taken seriously or not, but Castiel knew he couldn't say much more than he had. Orihara had a name now, along with knowing what Ruby looked like. With that in mind, he would hopefully be able to stay well out of her way unless the demon decided to track him down for some reason. If Orihara was lucky, Ruby would have too many other things to concern herself with to bother seeking him out

[predictator]

Izaya stayed quiet for a few seconds after Castiel's question, considering it. He wasn't sure if Castiel's meaning in asking was to learn what secrets might be behind a different door or not, but it was his own first thought on the matter. Certainly it could be more useful if they found a different locked door that Izaya hadn't been through before, but...

"Having picked that one myself, I can say that I don't think it will be too difficult for a beginner to practice on... But more importantly, I'd rather not waste time looking for a different door," he responded. "That said, if you know of another you know will be locked, we can certainly try it instead if you'd prefer."

[poorexample]

Castiel had to admit that the human was bringing up a good point. While he doubted that locked doors were that hard to come by in the institute, locating one would take up precious time -- and he'd been severely lacking time in his nights. The important part of the exercise was learning how to get the door unlocked rather than seeing what was behind it, but the efficient part of him wanted to accomplish both at the same time.

"We can try that one again, if you believe that is best," he said after a pause. The bus gave a jolt when it hit a bump in the road, but the angel quickly righted himself. This vehicle rode even more roughly than Dean's car. "There was another door I came across that is closer to the patient blocks, but it was locked very tightly. It might not be the best one to start on." It was that very door that had given him the idea to learn this trade in the first place, but he could always try it another time.