It was very early on in the day, or perhaps very late. Depending on you sleep schedule or lack thereof. The bar was rarely empty, but this was the closest it got. There was one of her regulars off in the corner who looked asleep even though she knew he wasn’t, with a half empty bottle of well whiskey and a shot glass in easy reach. He didn’t particularly want to be there, but he really didn’t want to be home. So he kept to his corner, and that suited ‘Ro just fine.
Originally, she wasn’t supposed to be here this late. Someone else should’ve taken over about four hours ago, but they were needed elsewhere. She suspected it had something to do with that not-at-all suspicious crash and the not-at-all shady man that was tied to it, but if she wasn’t needed for it then she wasn’t going go digging. Puzzles were one thing, but there weren’t enough pieces just yet for it to hold her attention.
So she worked instead, alert with her second wind still pushing her sails forward, metaphorically at least. It was slow enough that she had finished her cleaning and prep some time ago, no customers needed to be checked on, and she didn’t even have any jobs to work on planning. So she had changed the radio from music to the news, hesitating for a moment on a conspiracy station. It was the sort of one her mother had listened to on occasion, although now they had the Amber Refugees to focus on instead of just the invasion of cybernetics. She had to admire their fervor, even if it was something she didn’t really relate to. These guys shared some beliefs with the Resistance, except she liked to think her side had a bit more evidence and rational thinking to bolster them.
It wasn’t worth the sighing or griping she would hear if anyone else wandered in though, and even she would get impatient quickly. So the news it was, plain and simple. ‘Ro leaned back against the bar where she could see the front door and listened. Calm and still except bits of her hair that had escaped her ponytail in the face of the old ceiling fan, the shadow of a thing that made the bar a bit more eerie befitting the hour where it wasn’t particularly yesterday or today.
Ezra ran a hand up and through his mess of a mop of hair as he pulled it into a fresh bun at the back of his head - it’d been a hell of a few weeks. First, he’d learned a bit about the people who’d been showing up at the Sadler Complex but he hadn’t really learned what the hell was really going on. Sara had been nice, she’d been hospitibal, fun to hang out with - but damn it, she’d been tight lipped. He suspected any observation that she seemed too much like a soldier to ignore was probably accurate - but at the same time he didn’t think she was a threat. That was a good start at least. Not a threat. What was a threat (though unironic as it was, Ezra wasn’t aware said threat was courtesy of the same woman) was the fact that someone with some pretty damn good A.I. had figured out he’d been hacking SadTech’s network. He was so close to finally god damn breaking through and here he was - stuck.
He was going to have to do some fucking around with his servers after this, he’d been found out, he’d have to keep his trail more quiet.
Right now, however, he found himself slipping begrudgingly into The Last Drop and sighing heavily as he ignored everything around him and walked right up to the bar. Ezra had a bad habit of ignoring the bartenders, you know, perks of the ‘job’ and the fact that he lived up stairs and the fact that most of them were scared shitless of him because of his sheer size - the true irony there being he wasn’t even really a soldier, he was just built like a fucking tank. “‘Ro.” He muttered out, leaning over the bar and grabbing himself a bottle of well... whatever the fuck was closest before he surveyed their surroundings. He may not have been a soldier but he wasn’t an idiot. “You’re here late.” He managed to mutter out as he opened the bottle, taking an unapologetic swig.
As a rule,’Ro wasn’t overly fond of people reaching into her space. Especially at work when it was her space but also not, and she was responsibly if and when (because it did) shit went sideways. By now, however, she had gotten used to Ezra. Granted, it was partially because she didn’t really have a choice in the matter, although she wasn’t intimidated by him like so many were. It took more than sheer size and a scowl to bother ‘Ro, which didn’t always work out for her actually.
If nothing else, she appreciated that he was consistent. Unlike some other members of the Resistance that floated around haphazardly or disappeared for months on end.
The scowl was sharper than usual though, which made her head tilt towards him as she reached down for the soda she kept under the bar. A few of the other bartenders kept theirs spiked, but not her. As it turned out it was easier to defend bodily throwing rowdy customers out the bar when she was sober, whaddya’ know?
She sipped at her own drink, watching him toss his back with undisguised amusement in her eyes, not bothering to tell him to take it easy. ‘Ro had enough of concerned hovering her life, which made her friends these days both appreciative and, well, whatever the opposite was. “I was having so much fun I thought I’d stick around.” Came the dry reply, but she stayed where she was instead of drifting off like she sometimes did when conversation wasn’t welcome, “So are you.”
There was certainly a lot of truth to the fact that Ezra was just… someone to get used to. There was the height, the build, the intelligence. That all was intimidating as a combination. That all was, well, it was probably intimidating as separate segments as well. But he didn’t mean to be that way, genetics and a head full of need for some nicotine and liquor and a penchant for computers made it so that Ezra was never going to be taken lightly, never going to slip by the sidelines, never going to be the person you just casually glanced over. He was a figure. He damn well knew it, and at times he’d even used it. Right now, you know, with what he did for the resistance and all that - for Natim - he got to ignore a lot of that. He as a computer guy, he was a hacker guy, he was that guy who was sometimes in here drinking too much whiskey and maybe too fond of a cigarette when he was drunk. Either way, he wasn’t someone you looked past, ignored. No way.
But he also was someone who stepped immediately into a role that befitted that. His friendship with ‘Ro, for example, was almost as much big brother as it was anything else. Even if she was cute, even if anything else, Ezra felt prone to protection mode - particularly when it kept Natim’s image as ‘not present’ in The Last Drop’ and could be brushed off by just him being him - and it was kinda, okay it was a problem. He knew she could handle herself, but with the image of his siblings in mind that sort of behaviour, well, it was never going to go away.
“Fun? Here?” Ezra huffed loudly, huffed in a way only someone with his size could. He was obviously amused but it was clearly to mock the customers, not ‘Ro as he downed another swig, his voice lowered - though he didn’t move from his perch of leaned maybe just a little bit too close to her over the counter. “Good reason.” He mumbled, all but slamming the bottle down onto the bar as he settled into a stool across from her. No one was around them, no one would be sober enough to hear any sort of conversation - but it didn’t stop him from doing a very casual glance around first.
They called Ezra the Bear. For how long, and how he had gotten the name other than the obvious, ‘Ro wasn’t sure. Truthfully, she didn’t particularly care. Sure, she was curious about people, especially those whose company she kept out of obligation and then later because they were often enough on the same wavelength. But she wanted to know more about things that affected events of now, instead of digging into the past.
It was a habit most members of the Resistance appreciated about her, or so she had been told. Natim’s organization wasn’t one that attracted the merry picket fence sort, for the most part.
Sometimes she envied his bulk and scowl. While ‘Ro sometimes creeped people out for reasons they couldn’t pinpoint, his impact was much more tangible. It was a useful thing, because if someone else wandered into the bar at the moment and saw his focus, the way he was obviously trying to have a private conversation, they wouldn’t approach. It also paid off whenever he took a dislike to a customer or fellow resistance member who was bothering her. It was unecessary, and he knew that, but did it anyway, though he knew what she was capable of.
They contradict each other, those two things. Somehow it was that aspect that made her fond of him, rather than the alternative.
People weren’t scared of ‘Ro. Not until she made them, until she moved with intent. That was alright. Natim didn’t keep her around to scare anyone that came within a ten foot radius. They kept her around because she got the job done, no matter the job, quickly and quietly - or not, as needed. Not that they didn’t enjoy watching her be the muscle, but everyone had their specialty.
She sipped at her drink again as she watched her friend, not mirroring his look around the bar. This was her space and she had been here for hours, she knew very well the vulnerabilities and when it was safe. Though she did raise an eyebrow at the noise from the bottle, “You break something I’m not cleaning up after you.” A hand reached up without looking, to switch the TV to some random sports channel before she set her drink down and tilted her head at him, “What happened?” It was better, in her mind, to ask directly instead of waiting for him to get to it. Though he was better than most about that.
This wasn’t exactly something Ezra hadn’t been holding onto for days. Days. The first contact had been… casual, but this was his fucking shit - he knew how to backtrack, he knew how to get into other parts of the SadTech server that would allow him to see whether or not this was an individual or an organizational threat. It was individual. So far. He’d only gotten the two sets of emails, well one set, but whoever it was had responded to his baiting and that had been a good sign. At least he liked to think that had been a good sign - it was time for someone else to know though. Because if this shit went south? Obviously it wasn’t good if he was the only one who knew why. Ezra may have had a dangerous street. Maybe he was even actually dangerous. But he wasn’t the sort to just let shit go in that manner. It just wasn’t in his personality or being. He wasn’t that type. Letting things go had never been his strong point.
As it stood, there were a few people he could have talked to - but right now his mind was set on sharing this information with ‘Ro. He was fond of ‘Ro - not in that way, not that she wasn’t cute. But he was fond in her in a way that she reminded him of his sisters and he couldn’t help but be protective of her even when he knew she didn’t really need it. If ‘Ro needed someone gone, they would be just that - gone.
But that didn’t mean that part of Ezra’s personality was going to change - nor his affection for her in a friendly, big brother sort of way. If anything that fact that she could handle her own shit only made him more confident that she needed a little protecting - the people who were the most confident, who could handle themselves the best, they were always the most shit about asking for help. He was a textbook case, he’d have known after all. So he carried that affinity as he finally glanced up at her.
No one was within ear shot, any honestly everyone was so pissed or were Resistance themselves that he didn’t care. “Someone found me snooping on SadTech’s network.” He half huffed out, “Haven’t turned me in. Not scent of it having been sent up top.” The words were simple as he took another hearty swig, another almost too heavy put down of the bottle. “I can’t track them though, ‘Ro, this is fucking tech that doesn’t fucking exist.” His words still grumbled, a sign of his true distaste of the situation.
This sort of rapport - no, friendship - was unlike the kind of relationships her mother had, or even the ones she had with her former ‘coworkers’. It was nice, actually. Having a few people around who she not only appreciated their skill but also trusted them as actual people. Before Natim, she was usually more of a I don’t want to see you until the next job type. But that was partially due to the company she kept, a habit that was slowly (glacially) changing. ‘Ro, much like her mother, was slow to embrace change.
Both her and Ezra were people that liked to be busy, to work with their hands and be useful instead of sitting around waiting for someone else to work. They also knew the value of silence when a task was at hand. Weirdly, she worked better around him than she had around her siblings but that was for another time. Occasionally, their knowledge bases overlapped, and that was unexpectedly pleasant. Their histories were very different, at least from the bits he had dropped here and there over the years, but when it came to things with wires and an outlook tinged with bitterness little things like where they were born fell to the wayside.
That being said, her knowledge of hacking and such was limited. ‘Ro knew how to build lab equipment, and knew how to build bombs, both of which were specialty sort of things. Sometimes it was like her and Ezra’s ilk spoke the same basic language but from different parts of the world, but at least they had a good baseline. Even though she had never been interested in broadening her own skillset, that didn’t mean she didn’t respect his and understand its importance. So she knew just enough for her eyes to narrow, chewing on this small nuisance, and understanding that it could easily grow much worse. The rest of her body stilled like a statue as she went over options and possibilities.
That was her way with a puzzle. Some drummed their fingers, some paced. ‘Ro froze.
“Any idea how much detail were they able to get off of your presence?” Do they know where you are? was the real question. “Were they poking around like you, or a part of SadTech is my question.” Because if it was the former that would explain some things, and add a possible ally to their radar. The latter opened up all new questions however, about new tech and why it was lying in wait instead of being used.
Ezra was clearly stressed out, even if stressed out Ezra wasn’t a totally normal thing - it would have been very clear, particularly to someone as close to him as ‘Ro that this wasn’t his normal level of stressed out. Of course, most people never actually got to see his stressed out side, but missions and ‘work’, that meant a few of Natim’s members were more than acquainted with it. That look he got when information slipped through the cracks or that look he got when a firewall was a little thicker than he thought it was going to be. The frustration that’d cause him to go silent and knit his brows and swig a little too hard at his beer as he tapped away at the keys of his computer upstairs - which sat in its own little room in his apartment - there was a clear mark of frustration that normally accompanied such things and it was ever present on his face right now.
Grumbling he relaxed his stance, this was ‘Ro’ after al. This was ‘Ro in a relatively safe space where if someone blabbed? They’d know damn well which person had walked out of The Last Drop and done it. It sorta, kinda, probably super helped that the security in the place fed directly into both the bar’s security system and (conveniently) up into Ezra’s personal server. The very one he was doing a very thorough job of trying to keep safe. Thankfully, that hadn’t been the issue so far… but all of this had caused other issues.
Leaning into the counter, not necessarily to get closer because that would have been too fucking obvious to anyone who wasn’t on their side but may have been in the room, he sighed heavily. “Just my email. And you guys call me paranoid. This is why I run shit through every little trick in the book.” He chuckled in a way only he could about something so serious, Ezra had to chuckle about the serious shit or he woulda been a goner years ago - at least the way he saw it, it was his own personal brand of ridiculous sobriety. Not that he was, well, he wasn’t liquor sober that was for sure. But, hey, everyone still needed their poison to help them keep the worse demons at bay or some poetic shit like that - words weren’t necessarily always his forte.
Wetting his lips he half shrugged, “Little of both. I just wanted to see if I could poke a hole in whatever the fuck is going on with all the new people lurking around. Q -” He said, purposefully not using Qinyang’s full name, obviously, for security purposes. Not that it wasn’t very obvious that Natim likely had people in nice little positions everywhere, but they actually weren’t on shit terms with SadTech - they just sort of let each other be, so he really hadn’t intended to go fucking that up. “- is aware. At least I told her shit might go south on this, she’s prepped to take credit for wanting the security tested.”
Chuckling he gave ‘Ro a little look, “Still won’t spill on what the hell is going on though, gotta give her credit for that.”
The last of her ice water was drained and that broke the mask she usually wore when she was chewing on a riddle, scowling instead and shaking the cup so the remaining ice rattled. As she got more water for herself her eyes locked onto her friend, intent with worry not so far under the surface. Her mind had been so caught up on what this new mystery player would bring to the board that she hadn’t focused on what he was so loudly broadcasting.
Accidentally, surely. Though out of the two of them, he was much more the heart on the sleeve sort. ‘Ro sometimes envied that.
“You are paranoid and overly cautious.” She agreed before stowing her drink again and grabbing for a hand towel instead, “Thats why you haven’t been caught before, and why I’m not worried now.” It was her speak for I’m not concerned because I have faith in you, but those things had never been said to her and she didn’t know how to say them now. ‘Ro didn’t have a resume, but if she did then ‘reassuring’ wouldn’t be on it. It didn’t stop her from trying for a few people though.
She wiped down the bar in front of him pensively, letting the routine of the act ground her even as she poked at his arms good naturedly to get them out of her way.
It was always good to have a backup plan, and she relaxed a bit of tension she didn’t realize was lingering in her shoulders at the confirmation that they had a reliable one. Even if that plan was a person, and a person whose motivations were still a little fuzzy to ‘Ro. There were people she respected who trusted Q though, and that had to be good enough. Besides, who was she to blame someone for putting themselves first? She hadn’t exactly joined up with Natim out of the goodness of her heart.
Her eyes slid over to the one other guy in the bar who hadn’t moved an inch during the conversation, which didn’t surprise her. The towel was shoved back in it’s place so she could lean down on the bar with her her elbows, face cradled in her hands with a sigh, “It sounds like you’re - we’re - being played with.” Admittedly, her first impulse was to tell him to give her an address so she could take care of it. If he had one though hopefully she wouldn’t need to ask for it. ‘Ro was always here for the quickest solution, “Is there a way you could flip it around?” One of her fingers glided along the bar even as her eyes stayed focused on him, tracing the too-familiar grooves and notches in the old thing, avoiding the splinter prone spots without having to think.
He may have been a little more lost in his head that he’d have liked, but not so lost as to not shoot ‘Ro a glance when she started almost aggressively (at least for he, in his mind) cleaning in front of him, then again - that may have been the point. She acted in subtle little ways like that, doing things that most other people wouldn’t have picked up on. Chock it up to just another reason he’d been overprotective of her over the years. And that was saying a lot because, while Ezra had no problem making friends, he had too many secrets to bring too many people in the Resistance into his inner circle. But he definitely considered ‘Ro to be there, whether she felt like she was there or agreed or not. Either way, he still shot her a glance that well - okay, he couldn’t do the whole ‘daggers’ with his eyes thing, but ‘Ro would know it wasn’t to intimidate as most people would have interpreted that. Of course, they’d have wrongly interpreted anyway, “I’m not paranoid.” He gruffed out.
Sure, in his early days, or on missions that hit too close to home he might get a little overly cautious but. Okay, maybe he was a little paranoid. But it wasn’t like it was unreasonable. He had built a life for himself, carefully crafted and someone being able to just pop into his server like that? Concerning. At least they’d not been able to get full access or anything, which made Ezra sigh softly at her next statement, “Not like Q would let anything found get out, but it doesn’t - “ He lifted his eyes and picked up the bottle, tilting it directly at her, “- doesn’t mean this isn’t a problem.”
As reassuring as ‘Ro was trying to be, Ezra was difficult to reassure anyway. His life had seemed to be one dramatic turn after the other - not that that was really shocking for a runaway from a family stepped in Omegasys business who decided to go into the Resistance, but you know, he could have dealt without some of it. When he’d had more of a personal life it hadn’t felt like things were do dramatic - but now he just looked back at that like it had been a distraction and that’s what he left it at. Things had distracted him from the dramatic shit and now he, rightfully, had to deal with it head on. “There was nothing about the person’s tone that seemed malicious, I’m more concerned that this person getting a bit of a nose up on my presence might make it possible for others to find me through them, than I am more people finding me directly.”
Giving ‘Ro a rather serious look he took a hearty swig of the whiskey, “We need in on that network, ‘Ro.” He said plainly.
If Ezra thought he was going to intimated her with his attempt at a scowl then he was wrong, although she knew the difference between an Ezra who was angry at her, and one who happened to be angry around her. There was a fine art between distinguishing them, and she couldn’t do it with everyone like she could him. Sometimes comfort and familiarity led to selective blindness, that was what happened with her father towards his wife, but if anything it gave her the ability to see through his bullshit.
She reached up to bring some sort of order to her hair as she listened to him. Trying to pick through what was something she should be concerned about and which parts he was over analyzing and making worse with every look over. It was what her mother did. ‘Ro was given to the habit at times as well, but more about her space, her things, and her body. Things she had felt a lack of ownership of before and was terrified of losing again. But her jaded attitude towards her mother’s overthinking and excessive caution had always made her...Not short with Ezra and the others who had these same tendencies, but less likely to humor them.
It endeared her to some, but not to all, and she was sort of fine with that.
For the most part though, Ezra’s tendencies seemed focused on his niche, and his circle. That made her more sympathetic. More likely to consider his point of view.
Because she fell into that as well. It also separates him from her mother’s out of control, uh, everything who lost her mind at things that were too big. She wrangled her inky hair into a neater ponytail, contemplating going red again, like an idle afterthought. The implication of more eyes being turned towards them wasn’t one she liked. ‘Ro had an unfortunate tendency of sitting still until forces reacted against her and made her move. Until she couldn’t deal with it anymore. Who knows how long she would have just sat in prison had that Natim member talked her into joining.
This, or at least, Ezra’s clear agitation and concern about this, seemed like the sort of thing that might actually be worth breaking her mold and being proactive.
So she sighed as the TV behind her cheered, “Then we do it. Cut whoever this is off from our trail and get into the network.” Her neck rolled from one side to the other, eyes on him with intent and that unwavering focus still, “What do you need, and how quiet are we keeping this?” There was something to that question, whether she meant it outright or not. ‘Ro was good at utilizing her own skills, at coming up with plans and strategies. But at this moment she was looking to him first before presenting any ideas of her own, following his lead on who to bring in on this and how it should be prioritized. How big to go. A certain amount of trust in that, and respect to his assessment and skills.
Ezra shook his head, this wasn’t as simple as ‘Ro probably wanted it to be. Hell, it wasn’t as simple as he wanted it to be. He liked that about Mariko at least - she was about action, she was about moving forward. She was tactile and she didn’t mince words, it was a blessing when half the assholes you dealt with tried to hide meaning behind prose and poetry that wouldn’t matter at the end of the day. At the end of the day people like ‘Ro and Ezra were the ones who stuck around Natim, it had always been that way - there were floaters and there were lifers, just like any military there was a sort of reliance on the stability like that. Some people had gone out the hard way, but most of the people who washed out just weren’t really cut for their sort of word. Not cut for their sort of direct approach and they either ended up back out in the mines and never heard from again or working for the Atirans - Ezra, well, he didn’t really like the way the Atirans operated but he respected it. They were the hard hand of doom compared to the underhanded tipping point that Natim was. Not that no one in Natim killed, but it was a last resort sort of thing - the Atirans gladly took out contract kills. It was what separated the two organizations, but also allowed them to co-exist. They had different approaches to similar opinions and at the end of the day?
They benefited from a little bit of separation, at least Ezra figured they did.
“Can’t go down that way, ‘Ro.” He answered gruffly, clearly not exactly pleased with that being the fact, but facts were facts. “This isn’t someone who happened upon me by accident, this is next level shit. They didn’t even have an IP address…” Ezra was still boggled by that, absolutely confounded by the fact that… he was good at ghosting, but this person or thing or whatever almost didn’t exist. And to some extent he wasn’t wrong, Sara’s AI didn’t work in a way that was familiar to him - let alone even familiar to his galaxy or time period so it wasn’t outlandish that it was freaking him out, no, actually it probably would have been more ridiculous if it didn’t freak him out. But it did, and he didn’t like it.
Giving his face a rough, tired rub he looked over at her, “Very quiet.” He added, “I didn’t even tell you for weeks. But Sadler’s death…” He trailed off for a minute. He may not have liked the corps but Natim had no beef with SadTech, yet. He always thought it was a yet, but then Sadler kept proving he wasn’t as shit as everyone else and so they’d ended up here. Idly trying to just figure out what SadTech was up to, but keeping their distance. “We either need a miracle or Q needs a damn good excuse to push for outsider access.” He half-grumbled, giving the bottle one turn against the counter as he rest in his hand.
Mariko wasn’t fond of being told that she couldn’t do a thing, that it was impossible. She grew up with an extensive library, schooling, money, and science. All of which taught her that with determination, time and the right application of the scientific method she could make very nearly anything happen. All of that plus some fuzzy moral barriers didn’t hurt either. It was a mindset that didn’t always do her any favors, losing herself in a riddle or an assigned task until she beat it, even with unconventional means that were hard to replicate.
Even with her notes, though there were only two other people that could possibly translate them.
The Natim had certainly given her some challenges, especially in fewer resources than might be considered ideal and sometimes less preparation. That, and the Natim were largely good people, unlike her previous ‘employers’. Though it wasn’t as busy or challenging as she might have hoped, considering it started with her blowing her way out of prison to join. She considered, in passing, moving onto a proper mercenary group at one point. But with one major exception, ‘Ro was the sort who stayed in one place, doing the same thing until acted on by an outside force.
(If she were being honest, and open, neither of which she is particularly comfortable with or good at, then she would admit that she wouldn’t leave now unless they made her. It was more for the People than the job, but that was difficult for her to articulate even if she wanted to. That wasn’t in any of her books. Not at all.)
‘Ro reached down for a glass without looking and filled it with ice from the bucket, then water, and slid it over to him with a blank expression that still managed to convey a silent sigh. That she was humoring him but still a bit concerned. ‘Ro was known for being more articulate with her face than her words.
“Miracles don’t just happen, but we can make them. Depends on the angle you want to go for.” ‘Ro didn’t like that he had been sitting on this for so long. It wasn’t that she was offended, or had her feelings hurt, but if he couldn’t fix it himself then he did no good stewing in it.
Her face twitched in a scowl. If you didn’t have the resources, then you got them. Their team were resources. Ezra needed to be better about that, “If they are some next level shit then we can’t take them head on. Not conventionally. We have to do something, there is always a way if we simplify it.” That was a dig, and not an overly subtle one. Of him sitting on this and not doing anything when they could have been working on a plan. But she didn’t disagree or contradict with keeping it quiet still.
Pushing back Ezra sighed at ‘Ro. It wasn’t that he didn’t agree with her, he did. He implicitly agreed with her and that was almost the problem. What he wanted to do and what he, reasonably, thought was a good idea were two entirely different situations in the moment. Fuck all of this was so fucked up. They’d been doing so good and they’d been slowly advancing on the weird activity that SadTech had gotten up to in the last few years and now? He had risked basically all of it because he was nosey. Okay, rightfully fucking nosey but still nosey and it was threatening to undo all of it - he couldn’t stand for that, but at the moment he had to. Even if he agreed with everything Mariko was saying. Every fiber of his being agreed with her, but he knew better. Especially since these days he mostly worked alone - it was a lot easier to find muscle and spies than it was to find hackers who wanted to do good, at least in Ezra’s experience.
Ezra’s upbringing had taught him, or attempted to teach him, to be ruthless - but at the end of the day he just didn’t have it in him and, honestly, that sort of brutality wasn’t in him. His raising had been so similar, yet so different than Mariko’s but it ended in them both having a lot of the same opinions and approaches to things. They wanted things to be right, to be done right, and to be done in a way that better the people around them. SadTech had never been like the other corps and so their involvement there had always been more about… watching, figuring out what the hell they were up to. It was no secret that Alec Sadler had sort of appeared out of nowhere and he’d done a hell of a lot of good but… that almost made him the most suspicious of all.
“I’ll contact Q.” He grumbled out, downing the water in front of him and pushing away from the bar. “Anyone comes snooping, you call me down.” He said - giving ‘Ro a serious stare. “And I mean it.” He was overprotective of Mariko, and not just because she had some health issues. He thought of her very much in the way one would a little sister and so he couldn’t help it. He’d failed at being able to be a good big brother to his own sister, so it was another way of being able to feel better about himself without actually acknowledging it was about that.
It didn’t surprise her that he wasn’t overeager to take her up on her offer. Ezra was cautious and more importantly, a good person. Just like the kind in the books she used to devour, that her mother frowned on. ‘Ro’s family hadn’t ever viewed her as a person, not really. Neither had the smuggling ring she had ended up with after leaving, so her naturally detached nature hadn’t really been discouraged until she came to the Natim. That, paired with the ease she put scientific experiments over people lent her an ease in embracing some crueler habits when given assignments or in the pursuit of a personal goal.
It was a thing that was known, though not an aspect people often spoke to her about directly. Due to obvious reasons.
So when she nodded her acceptance of this informal task, slight approval in her eyes about the steps he was taking, there was also an understanding in the back of her mind that if any snoopers showed up they would be staying long enough for Ezra to speak to them. Regardless of their personal opinions on the matter. It had taken someone else explaining it to her to find out Ezra viewed her in a protective, sisterly manner, and maybe she should have behaved differently to ease his mind. But she didn’t. “I will. I’ve had some things I want to test out anyway.” A half grin took over her features, the sort of wistful tone that usually only came to her when experiments were near taking over.
“Are you good to make it upstairs?”
Ezra was glad to see that cheeky little half grin - at least it was cheeky for ‘Ro, by any standard for her that was. He, on the other hand was more than glad to have lifted a little weight off of his shoulders and was more than a little glad to have ‘Ro be able to be on look out. This was, at least, he could do better than the shitty security system with that one pesky fucking camera that never worked right. He didn’t even know who he was looking for and with all the new citizens around and the nature of being a port city anyway… well, it was better when Mariko could tell him herself she felt someone was off. Felt someone was in and out a little too much. Felt someone was asking the wrong questions. That sort of shit. The rest of it… he could do without.
He knew her concern came from a good and even the right place, which wasn’t a luxury everyone got with Mariko, but he didn’t need it right now. Right now there was no risk of him going and falling off ‘the wagon’ and going down a bad road. He was just stressed out, that might be enough to break most people - but Ezra wasn’t most people. Ezra had never been most people, really, and he hadn’t intended to start being most people just because his life got a little… increasingly fucked up apparently.
Smirking over at ‘Ro he took a few steps backwards, “Just as good as any night.” He said to her before turning around and making his way back up to his apartment. At least he’d gotten it off his chest, right?