Since the moment that he'd first noticed that Mikado had arrived in this place, Izaya had known that there was only so much he could tell the boy at one time-at least while still expecting to be believed. He knew he hadn't been the first to talk to Mikado, either, so all he'd done at that time was to corroborate one or two of the things he might have been already told... At that time, he hadn't touched at all on the topics Mikado had just brought up-while he'd already had some exposure to the ideas (thanks in no small part to Castiel), they had still seemed too outlandish then to even consider passing on to a newcomer.
"Ah," he said softly, tucking the thank-you card into the journal and closing it. "You've heard people talking about magic, I take it? Or have you seen it for yourself?"
Mikado was acting so nervous just in asking about it that Izaya felt confident that it hadn't been the latter-or at least that he hadn't seen anything that had been unmistakable. That 'trick' of Harrington's might have been just that in the end, after all, no matter what he'd implied at the time.
"I don't know if it should be called 'magic', but I do know that some people here have extraordinary abilities... Abilities that can't be explained so easily when you restrict yourself to thinking about what an 'average human being' is capable of." Of course, even back in Tokyo there were exceptions to the average to be found... such as, for example, Heiwajima Shizuo. Izaya's smile wavered momentarily at the thought of the man, and he quickly added, "There are completely ordinary people here, too, but it almost seems as if someone went out of their way to collect some of those extraordinary people and put them together here... Assuming, of course, that the men in charge of this facility weren't the ones responsible for those abilities in the first place."
As for the question of different worlds... It was a less clearly defined topic, so Izaya wasn't sure what to make of it for the moment. He knew there had been references to different time periods, and he'd once seen listed on the bulletin board some languages and placed he'd never heard of. He hadn't given it much thought then, but now...
No matter what, there was less he could say on that subject. Feigning ignorance for the time being, both to clarify and perhaps learn something himself in return for sharing, he asked, "By 'different worlds', do you mean other planets? Or simply an unfamiliar surroundings-like a different time and place?"
There came no belittlement for the question, and a wash of gratitude fell through him. Mikado nodded. "I had a discussion with someone." When Izaya continued, Mikado found nothing to doubt. In fact, it lined up with some of what had been spoken. Again, the boy nodded in understanding. "They discussed it like it was something common to them, and even that it's used as an energy source instead of electricity. They didn't seem to really know what electricity was." Mikado had actually briefly explained it, but he didn't need to go into that.
The other subject was a bit more questionable, by any rate, and he frowned in contemplation. "Other worlds like.... Completely different realities, I think. Maybe planets.... But it seemed more like...." He paused, then looked up, suddenly seemingly confident in his thoughts. "A different reality from ours," he said firmly.
The information Mikado had shared through his confirmations and clarifications wasn't much, but it was enough for Izaya to consider it worth having shared. That there was someone here who didn't know of electricity wasn't surprising given what he'd heard about time periods, but to consider 'magic' as an energy source in its place? Intriguing.
"Ah... Well, if it's about 'different realities', I can't quite say that I know much about the subject. Alternate realities are sometimes appear in fiction; when it comes to the 'real world', their existence has never been proved... But their existence has never been disproved, either. If someone here is claiming to come from somewhere that isn't the world as we know it, at any point in history, then naturally they're either telling the truth... or truly mad. It's just a question of which."
Naturally, if you were to ask the staff, the answer would be the latter. But who was to say that there weren't a few here who were genuinely insane?-even if they may not have been when they arrived.
"If you don't mind, might you tell me the name of your friend?" he asked as pleasantly as he was able. "I'd be interested in hearing more about where he says he comes from."
What Izaya said was the same as Mikado's own deductions. It was either truth or insanity, and what Mikado had thought was.... "I don't think he was insane," he offered, after a beat of thought. "There was rationalizations behind what he said, and he was revealing too much for it to have been completely planned." Unless that kind of madness took over his entire personality? But Mikado honestly hadn't gotten that kind of impression from the man.
Izaya asked for the other man's name, and Mikado only hesitated briefly. Something like that was disliked on principle, and if it had been anyone else, Mikado would have said no. But Izaya was helping him, and so Mikado had no reason to do anything but agree. "He gave his name as Tolten," he replied, and there was nothing in him that felt that was a wrong move. He almost added that the man introduced himself as a knight, but held back. He had already colored Izaya's impressions enough. Mikado would prefer to know what he thought if he spoke with him. "If you say that you know me, it might make sense to him. We were trying to understand each other."
Here, there was an actual hesitation, and Mikado glanced down before asking. "...Would you tell me your conclusions if you speak to him?" Having something like that remain a mystery... Was almost torturous. Mikado would start actively seeing if some of the things spoken of held with others, but still, that fact of the original premise it had came from-- Like stated originally, Mikado wanted to know Izaya's opinion.
Izaya's expression turned to one that was almost pitying at Mikado's conclusion that his friend was sane, but he said nothing on the subject. That the man spoken lucidly and rationally didn't necessarily mean he was speaking as his true self-he'd seen that well enough just recently in Castiel's brief bout of misplaced identity (and as Venkman had so eloquently pointed out, the deluded rarely ever acknowledged that they were so). Or, the man's state of mind aside, it was also possible that the he had been knowingly leading Mikado on-that rather than forgetting himself, he could have been sharing fantasies of his own choosing. As it was, Izaya couldn't determine what kind of a person he was simply from a few small slivers of secondhand information, but the fact remained that there were more types of humans in the world than only the honest ones.
He nodded when Mikado gave the name: Tolten. Izaya noted it, already planning to seek the man out in the near future-not today, as the afternoon was wearing on and it was unlikely he had the time to arrange a meeting, but soon.
"I'll be sure to mention you," he said. Dropping Mikado's name was something he would likely do even if the boy hadn't suggested it, but he'd wait until he'd had a chance to feel the man out for himself first... The prospect of seeing even a small difference in behavior before or after bringing up another person was too exciting to ruin by bringing up their mutual acquaintance too soon. "As for sharing my findings... I can do that. It's a fair enough payment in exchange for the name, I think, so I'll let you know after I've had a chance to meet with him."
"Ah," he said softly, tucking the thank-you card into the journal and closing it. "You've heard people talking about magic, I take it? Or have you seen it for yourself?"
Mikado was acting so nervous just in asking about it that Izaya felt confident that it hadn't been the latter-or at least that he hadn't seen anything that had been unmistakable. That 'trick' of Harrington's might have been just that in the end, after all, no matter what he'd implied at the time.
"I don't know if it should be called 'magic', but I do know that some people here have extraordinary abilities... Abilities that can't be explained so easily when you restrict yourself to thinking about what an 'average human being' is capable of." Of course, even back in Tokyo there were exceptions to the average to be found... such as, for example, Heiwajima Shizuo. Izaya's smile wavered momentarily at the thought of the man, and he quickly added, "There are completely ordinary people here, too, but it almost seems as if someone went out of their way to collect some of those extraordinary people and put them together here... Assuming, of course, that the men in charge of this facility weren't the ones responsible for those abilities in the first place."
As for the question of different worlds... It was a less clearly defined topic, so Izaya wasn't sure what to make of it for the moment. He knew there had been references to different time periods, and he'd once seen listed on the bulletin board some languages and placed he'd never heard of. He hadn't given it much thought then, but now...
No matter what, there was less he could say on that subject. Feigning ignorance for the time being, both to clarify and perhaps learn something himself in return for sharing, he asked, "By 'different worlds', do you mean other planets? Or simply an unfamiliar surroundings-like a different time and place?"
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The other subject was a bit more questionable, by any rate, and he frowned in contemplation. "Other worlds like.... Completely different realities, I think. Maybe planets.... But it seemed more like...." He paused, then looked up, suddenly seemingly confident in his thoughts. "A different reality from ours," he said firmly.
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"Ah... Well, if it's about 'different realities', I can't quite say that I know much about the subject. Alternate realities are sometimes appear in fiction; when it comes to the 'real world', their existence has never been proved... But their existence has never been disproved, either. If someone here is claiming to come from somewhere that isn't the world as we know it, at any point in history, then naturally they're either telling the truth... or truly mad. It's just a question of which."
Naturally, if you were to ask the staff, the answer would be the latter. But who was to say that there weren't a few here who were genuinely insane?-even if they may not have been when they arrived.
"If you don't mind, might you tell me the name of your friend?" he asked as pleasantly as he was able. "I'd be interested in hearing more about where he says he comes from."
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Izaya asked for the other man's name, and Mikado only hesitated briefly. Something like that was disliked on principle, and if it had been anyone else, Mikado would have said no. But Izaya was helping him, and so Mikado had no reason to do anything but agree. "He gave his name as Tolten," he replied, and there was nothing in him that felt that was a wrong move. He almost added that the man introduced himself as a knight, but held back. He had already colored Izaya's impressions enough. Mikado would prefer to know what he thought if he spoke with him. "If you say that you know me, it might make sense to him. We were trying to understand each other."
Here, there was an actual hesitation, and Mikado glanced down before asking. "...Would you tell me your conclusions if you speak to him?" Having something like that remain a mystery... Was almost torturous. Mikado would start actively seeing if some of the things spoken of held with others, but still, that fact of the original premise it had came from-- Like stated originally, Mikado wanted to know Izaya's opinion.
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He nodded when Mikado gave the name: Tolten. Izaya noted it, already planning to seek the man out in the near future-not today, as the afternoon was wearing on and it was unlikely he had the time to arrange a meeting, but soon.
"I'll be sure to mention you," he said. Dropping Mikado's name was something he would likely do even if the boy hadn't suggested it, but he'd wait until he'd had a chance to feel the man out for himself first... The prospect of seeing even a small difference in behavior before or after bringing up another person was too exciting to ruin by bringing up their mutual acquaintance too soon. "As for sharing my findings... I can do that. It's a fair enough payment in exchange for the name, I think, so I'll let you know after I've had a chance to meet with him."
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