ᴡᴇ ᴘɪʟʟᴀɢᴇ, ᴡᴇ (plunder) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-10-02 09:44:00 |
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Killian wasn’t what one might call a sushi snob, per se, but he had perhaps developed a bit of a more sophisticated palette thanks to Regina - and he also didn’t enjoy for his raw fish to actually taste like something scraped up from the bottom of the sea. Ironic, considering that he recalled with astounding clarity living a pirate’s life where in no one could afford to be picky about food - there were a lot of oceanic goodies consumed, turtle’s blood included, a lot of scraping mold and algae off of sustenance or eating boiled strips of leather because you were desperate. Perhaps it made him appreciate the finer points of consuming fish now. This particular place was so serious business about their sushi that the rather old-school chef, a true artist, had it scrolled in actual writing on the wall that he would not - under any circumstances, not even penalty of death - prepare a California roll. Nor were there any rolls with clever names such as Me Soy Horny - a shame, really. Instead it was all fresh ingredients, bright textures, colours, and tastes. Some crunched, some burst, others melted into pleasure-filled mouthfuls. A truly wonderful experience. He was fascinated, watching the chef work his magic behind glass, and while waiting for Minato a pot of sake was ordered. Something to share, since it packed a punch and Killian had cut back on the booze - he was continuing to do so, only drinking the occasional glass of wine with dinner, pint of ale when he visited Hawke, or something during meetings like these. With him, he had a sealed manila envelope - inside were the hard copies Minato wanted. The final report, details of Killian’s work to find Naruto - along with other documents such as copies of the birth certificate, school transcripts, and police records. Seemed the lad had been a little busy but Killian would fill his client in, when Minato arrived. Upon Killian contacting him, Minato had, admittedly, been a bundle of nerves. He wondered if his son was out there, and if so, what he was like. Of course, he didn't have any of the answers, but he was more than happy to meet up with the PI to discuss what he had or had not found. The sushi bar was easy enough to find, and Minato only had to look around for a moment before his eyes landed on Killian. Taking in a deep breath in a vain attempt to calm his nerves, he headed over to where he sat and took a seat beside him. He gave a small bow to the chef behind the glass, and a greeting in Japanese before he turned his attention to Killian. "My father thought it was important for me to learn Japanese." Something about his culture, and learning about his roots. Minato hadn't argued with him on that point, and it had helped him communicate with Kushina's family too when he'd been younger. Although his Japanese had considerably gotten better since then. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." He hadn't meant to run a little late, but he'd kept finding things around his home that had needed tending to. As it was, he'd only been late by a few minutes, so it wasn't as if he'd left him hanging for too long after their appointed meeting time. "So what did you find out?" “I learned Gaelic for similar reasons, though it’s decidedly a dead language,” Killian chuckled, pouring Minato a bit of sake - and the Captain hadn’t learned because his father told him to, gods no. But rather, his brother who raised him thought it’d be helpful - sometimes it was. He knew a smattering of French as well, thanks to British schools requiring courses in their curriculum. Finishing the equivalent of high school in Britain had also been something Liam insisted on, before Killian joined the Royal Navy. But alright, now that the sake had been poured and bums were in seats, he could get to down the heart of matter. “Wasn’t waiting long at all, mate,” he passed Minato a menu, though he doubted he’d be deciding on sushi selections until the information was revealed. With the menu, Killian also passed over the envelope he had with him. “You do have a son named Naruto - he’s seventeen and in high school, has been living with his mother and her aunt in Japan. I mainly gathered info on him and his extracurriculars, so I’m not certain why your former love moved in with her aunt but I would presume because the pregnancy made for a falling out with her parents.” He sipped his drink, lifting an eyebrow over the edge of the small ceramic cup. “He seems like a good lad though - a bit of trouble here and there, but nothing drastic.” It was typical for the age. "It's always good to know where one came from." Minato replied with a small nod of his head, heritage was important and while he didn't know his birth parents he had learned about their culture. Admittedly he'd found his own place in the world with a culture different from his own, but he enjoyed it. With a nod, Minato accepted the menu and then saw the letter on the inside. He took in a deep breath, and held it while Killian spoke about what he'd found out. The world felt like it slowed down, and he took several moments to absorb everything before he finally spoke. "I don't care why she moved in with her." Minato only wondered why she hadn't told him that she was pregnant, and honestly at this point he didn't care about her but he did care about his son. A light smile turned up the corners of his lips, "That makes sense. That he would be a bit of a troublemaker." Of course, Minato hadn't been that much of a troublemaker but he knew from the dreams that his son was that way. Minato took the envelope out of the menu placing it down beside his plate. Minato assumed that it was more information, or at least, the information that Killian had given him already. "Thank you, for everything." Minato replied with a nod, "I really do appreciate it." He reached forward and picked up his own sake and took a sip. “Of course,” Killian slung his chin at Minato’s words. “I’m glad to have been able to help you out. If I can ever do anything else for you, don’t hesitate to ask.” It was always fulfilling to be able to aid in the whole ‘closure’ process for clients - they were looking for something, oftentimes desperate, and he knew what it was like to live with unresolved questions. Not very much fun at all. And he was good at what he did, so, may as well put those skills to use - plus, turning a profit. He did have bills to pay. Marking off a few sushi selections, he casually went with a spicy tuna roll, something else with crunchy tempura, and another with cream cheese because you couldn’t go wrong there. It’d be delicious no matter what. “Are you going to see about planning a trip to Japan, then?” he wanted to know. "I will definitely let you know if there is anything else that I need." Killian was a good man, Minato thought, and he would recommend him to anyone that needed help from a PI. His eyes scanned over the menu one more time, and he too ordered. Shrimp Tempura, Salmon Nigiri, and Salmon Roe for now. He placed the menu off to the side, and then took another sip of his sake. "I most likely will within the next month or so." Minato replied with a nod, "I'm debating on if I should contact him first to see if he wants to see me, but then again I think that it might be best to actually just surprise him." If Naruto here was anything like he was in the dreams that might be the best bet. "I might sleep on it to see what I'm going to do, but I'm definitely going to get into contact with him very soon." Killian was glad to hear that Minato was planning a trip to visit the son he only just now learned about - it was a good first step, and you had to begin somewhere. “Go with your instincts, about contacting him first,” the Captain chuckled; he too picked up his sake, the warmth and the smooth, musky rice flavour coursing down his throat. “And overall I’d say sleeping on it isn’t a terrible idea either. But from what I could tell, it does sound like he needs some sort of father figure in his life. At first he may be resentful, but I imagine he’d come around - it really wasn’t your fault that you didn’t know about him.” Plus, Minato was actually making the effort now. That had to count for something. “Long-lost family member cases seem to be a favourite of mine,” he added, an interesting observation that was amusing to him. “Perhaps because my own sister sort of popped up out of nowhere. Filled a hole I never even knew was there.” An emotional hole, of course. Not to be taken literally. "No, and I'm sure she had her reasons." Minato was trying desperately hard not to be bitter about the whole thing, and trying to see it from Kushina's perspective. He didn't want to think too negatively about her. Shrugging that off for now, he thought mostly about his son. "I think that I will sleep on it, and go from there." He did have a lot of thinking to do about it, how to contact him was his first priority. He turned his attention to Killian, giving a small nod. "I'm glad that you found each other. Family is important, and it's good that you're helping people out there to find them." Minato had only ever had Jiraiya, and that was enough for him. He'd been a fantastic dad, and he'd never had any desire to know his birth parents. "If it's not too much for me to ask, how many long-lost family member cases have you worked?" “Oh, tonnes,” Killian grinned a bit - perhaps proudly, but when it came to this, he felt like he had a right to be. “I’m working three right now, currently.” He’d finished with Heather’s - hers was rather straightforward, like Minato’s, only the latter was searching for someone he wasn’t sure existed. Still, birth records were some of the simplest types of documents to come by for him. But he also had Kitiara, Bo, and Thalia looking for her brother was an ongoing case. Killian had never not been able to find anyone before though - he would hate to add a ding to his record, and he didn’t intend to. If it took awhile, it took awhile and so be it. “In addition to that, I do work for those who have positions in or happen to own high-powered corporations and such,” he added, thinking of Emma Frost. The case he had for her now was more on the personal side, with her keeping tabs on her brother. “Perhaps long-lost family members also are my favourite because they’re how I met my current girlfriend.” Delivering a report detailing the whereabouts of Regina’s mother and half-sister, and what they were up to. Then, the rest was history. Minato couldn't help but to smile at Killian's response, and he gave a small nod. "That's awesome." He thought it was good of Killian to help out those that needed it, to help them find their family if they so desired. Minato took another sip of his sake, and then licked his lips as he sat the small cup back down onto the countertop. "That could have something to do with it." Minato replied with a half smile over in Killian's direction. Of course, Minato believed that it probably had a little to do with it along with the fact that Killian's sister had also come back into his life. "I'm of the opinion that anything that you can do to help out people is a good thing. Even if it's something like finding their long-lost family members, or exposing a cheating spouse. Either way, you're helping someone in the long run. Kudos to you and your work, Killian." Minato meant that, and he gave a small inclination of his head in Killian's direction. "Outside of all of this though, what do you do when you're not on the clock?" Well, good lord - he wasn’t exactly expecting the praise. After all, Killian had only just gotten his PI licence - he’d been doing this illegally for many years, and had started off as a drug trafficker. Then it just sort of evolved into finding items, and people, creating documents, things of that nature. It paid decently (enough for him to eat and keep a roof over his head, anyway, which was what had mattered at the time) and as he gleaned more of a reputation, he got to charge more for his services. But come to think of it, he sort of was at the point now where he did enjoy helping people. It was actually...fulfilling. How odd. “Much obliged,” he chuckled, rubbing the black bristle which crawled along his jawline. “But, oh, let’s see. Outside of work, I enjoy sailing and fishing - also cartography, I enjoy making maps. If I had actually stuck with a Royal Navy career, I’d have liked to become a Surveyor. You know, traveling along various coasts and studying the land and water. I took a few classes on Geography and Hydrography when I was studying at the Naval college.” The sushi appeared then, deliciousness wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with rice along with other tasty accoutrements. He would use the chopsticks in his good hand, made for decent practise. “Boring, I know. What about you, mate?” Chuckling Minato shook his head, "Everyone thinks that their hobbies are boring to others when in the end what matters is that you enjoy it. Personally I think that mapmaking could be an interesting thing to learn how to do, and I don't fish nearly as much as I used to." He and his dad had taken plenty of fishing trips over the years, and man, he really did miss his old man. "I enjoy cooking or going to cooking classes that some restaurants around town offer, reading, I probably watch more TV now that I'm not traveling so much for work, and dancing." His smile brightened as he spoke of dancing, "It might be what I do for a living, but I still enjoy going out to the clubs and letting loose." Minato believed that if you did something that you enjoyed, and something that you had passion for that you would never work a day in your life. To this day he still felt like he hadn't really worked a day in his life even though that wasn't exactly the case. Picking up his chopsticks, Minato gave a small nod toward the chef, and picked up his first roll. "When you get some time we should go fishing. It's good for the mind and soul to just kick back and relax with a pole and a beer." By then he would've hopefully contacted his son, and he'd be able to let Killian know exactly what had happened. Ah, yes, cooking - that was indeed a viable skill, and also relaxing in a sense. Killian wasn’t too shabby at it either and now that he lived with Regina, he had access to a bigger kitchen rather than the tiny one on his houseboat. But perhaps they could combine both fishing and cooking, in some sort of adventure - he had more in common with Minato than he initially realised. “Sounds grand,” the Captain nodded, placing a wee bit of wasabi into soy sauce, in the small dish, to swirl them around and mix them. He enjoyed some heat with his sushi. “I really can’t argue that I’ll need the time to relax with a beer.” He’d look forward to hearing about Minato’s follow-up with his son as well. Killian really did take pride in his work, and when he managed to reunite family - well, that was often the best reward he could think of. |