"Then it's a good thing, my friend, that I am skilled in the art of self-disclosure," Claude says with a quick wink and a cheeky grin. He's lying, of course, but he lies with such confidence that it would be almost impossible to tell -- you just drown people in entirely too much information and they don't look much deeper.

"I'm familiar with your friends, though!" He exclaims, the light of recognition in his eyes. "Kurama in particular has been of great help to me. He works for me on occasion, down at the Apothecary. As does Hiei, not that I've ever had a proper conversation with the man."

He's there because Kurama is, and is extremely disinterested in Claude besides. Claude won't complain. He needs workers regardless of attitude, provided they aren't manning the counter and offending the customers. "You should come by sometime. I'll give you a friend-of-the-staff discount."