give me traces of your lifeblood flowing in a loving cup

When left at an impasse, Ishiah retreats into his own mind for answers. Uncertainty remains one of the less pleasant aspects of being separated from the guidance he once enjoyed as an angel. As Ishiah leans against the window frame, he flexes his hand steadily, closing repeatedly around thin air; it's hard to clear old habits.

Manhattan as a backdrop has never been a view Ishiah felt married to. Instead, it's the hard-earned peace that he let himself sink into more than anything, and Darrow isn't so far off in that respect. There are no sides constantly waging wars, and privacy is easily earned. For more reasons than one, he's felt comfortable enough in Darrow to settle, and to think of a distant future spent there with Robin.

Right now, the question is how far he plans to meddle to maintain that peace.

Hearing the front door of the apartment open and Robin's keys jingling as he returns from his shift, Ishiah pushes himself away from the window. With his shoulders held back, he easily strides across the space of the room, waiting only for Robin to shrug off his jacket before enveloping him in a close, warm embrace from behind.

"Are you feeling better after having spent some time at the restaurant?" Ishiah asks, letting himself bury his face against the side of Robin's neck, lips delivering a soft kiss against warm skin.

and i am a weapon of massive consumption

In the time that Ishiah's known Okumura Rin, he's quickly learned that the young boy isn't someone who learns by theory or instruction, but instead through practice. To someone who has had the skill built into his mind by design, trying to find ways to ramp Rin up in the ways of swordfighting is difficult. Extracting his power in a manageable way, even more so.

But the more time Ishiah spends with the young boy, the more he comes to realize the depth of the power and potential in him. In the short term, Rin needs to be able to harness that power for good; in the long run, Ishiah would prefer to be someone who knows those abilities inside and out, in the event that he ever has to fight them directly.

The situation reminds him of Caliban's in more ways than one.

Ishiah makes his way over to an abandoned warehouse out beyond the suburbs, wanting the privacy and space necessary for Rin to speak frankly about his power. In time, he plans to make the very same trip with Rin's brother, not entirely convinced that Okumura Yukio is as fully human as he would have others believe. But in the few interactions he's had with both brothers, it's clear that being in one another's presence makes both of them hold back in ways.

"Rin," he says, lifting his gaze when he hears steps echo within the wide walls of the main room. "Thank you for taking the time to join me."