She listened to his explanations, his own story. The Core exploiting nomads wasn't exactly news to her and as long as they would keep them in check that was alright with her. At least she wouldn't be able to do anything about it either.
"You seem to be able to move rather freely. And considering the reports not even the Core seems to actively hunt you. That is an advantage we don't possess, more ships or not." She sipped on her tea, thinking, looking at the rather unique guest she had here. "And do you just agree with our fight against Liberty or is that something you just ignore?" A rather important question considering how close they were to the house that once was their home.
This was probably the most fate-deciding question he could think of regarding this meeting. Not that he didn't expect that question. He simply was not allowed to interfere. His agreement with the Nomads forbade him any kind of interference, and the one he caused by saving Elena Voigt from the Commune and a possible infection made them find clear words for what would happen if he would dare to do something similar ever again. Sitting more upright, he gave her an apologetic smile. "I have no doubts you have enough evidence on for your motivations to act. Please don't get me wrong, I do trust you are doing the right thing. But I already have my own packages to burden. Thus I prefer to stay away from troubles that are avoidable to me and my crew. I hope you understand that, admiral." This was hopefully not leading the conversation in a negative direction. One word of her possibly could result in critical actions.
A good answer, one she could respect. She was doing the same, picking fights they could survive, sometimes leaving their new allies behind. It was quite possibly the only answer he could have given that wouldn't have either insulted her or caused her to see him in a less good light. She smiled lightly again.
"I'm really not sure what to think of you I have to admit. You're unlike the other people that come here to trade or to negotiate." She admitted freely, setting back the topic of their trade a bit for now. This was now just genuine curiosity, something she didn't indulge in for a long time. Talking like this was nothing she could have anymore. She became more than just the highest rank in this organisation, she was leading thousands of people now that expected a certain behavior of her.
"Surely you have your fights to fight, there'd be no need for a warship of the kind we saw. I'll not force you to pick a side here but I hope you got all the information and know just exactly what is going on here." was her rather tame request considering they were called traitors, pirates and terrorists by some.
A year ago, he would have felt weird about it, as the sole reason for taking the Apahanta with him was the fact he invested two billion credits in the restauration of the chassis that was tagged for demontage. But now it was different. As long as he had the ship, he had the wildcard to change things. Nodding in understanding, he leaned forward to take the cup of tea she prepared for him. "I appreciate that, admiral. It's sort of a change of pace to talk with someone who doesn't want me to use my resources to their advantage." But then again, the weapon trade sort of was like that. After taking a careful sip of the tea, he kept the cup in his hands, smirking at her. "When they aren't openly opposing us, those people try to manipulate us to act as pawn in their games. Auxesia has a hand for that. Loyola has a hand for that as well. Manipulation, lies and avoding the truth. Things we had to deal with quite frequently." Almost to provoke a response that would show him the opposite, he added something after a short rhetorical break. "It would be the first time for me to look at a charming woman that doesn't have dirty thoughts in mind when facing my huge asset." The Apahanta, that is.
She had trouble to hide her amusement, quickly trying not to laugh and reducing it to a genuine smile. He certainly was bold and if he was afraid he didn't show it. This was truly a refreshing encounter like she didn't expect to have again. Of course she'd thought about using the Apahanta in this war in some way but considering how alike the two groups were, forcing it would have probably resulted in terrible destruction. And yet here he sat making jokes.
"We've had our fair share of trouble with Auxesia and it wasn't of the manipulating kind. I have no clue though who Loyola is really." She put one leg over the other slowly relaxing more, sitting comfortably. "And if I'm honest we are somewhat using your resources as you do ours. Maybe not as directly but still it is more of a trade isn't it?" She asked, now interested in keeping the conversation going, keeping this friendly. She would get the guns anyways. He really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. She could afford some time to enjoy herself couldn't she?
He smiled at that. The warmth of the tea went from the cup over into the cloth of the the overall's gloves. A nice feeling after the cold snub trip. "Both parties agreed freely on this trade, and neither of us had enough time to come up with evil plans yet, simply because I believe Miss Hookier's naive little act hit you just as sudden as it hit me." Something he still had headaches about. This was horribly nonprofessional, but at least it didn't backfire yet, he thought. "Enma Loyola is all about dominance and sadism. She is acting in unpredictable ways, and her only loyalty is towards Malta. If you know what is good for you, don't rely on her words. The best cooperation with her should have a beginning and an end, and the period of time between those should be short." His eyes loosely faced his cup of tea in his hands. "You probably did a background check on me, didn't you." It was less of a question than him voicing his guess. While the video descriptions on then neural net very rarely mentioned his name in the comments, it sort-of was no longer a secret what Enma and him did in that restaurant in the public area on Corinth. And how Enma treated him.
She had to smirk just a tiny bit at him mentioning that the only reason there was no evil plans were simple time constraints. His calm about the whole situation was somewhat charming. Most people wouldn't be like this considering the situation. Miss Hookier was a reliable trade partner and her attitude was known so no one was really upset about it. In some ways people had to get more lax or cooperation with the likes of Hackers and Unioners would be impossible.
"I see no reason why we would need to get in touch with Loyola anytime soon." She said and felt herself wanting they'd asked the Hackers for more intel on Vertiga. "I don't like to be unprepared." was her vague answer, not saying what she knew but implying she did know something. "Is there anything I should know but might have missed?" She asked, again with a light smile though there was more warmth to it now.
That was exactly what he would have asked if he was bluffing, and that had a certain relief to it. Smirking slightly more charming at her again, he took another sip of this tea. Not as fruity as he prefered it, but it was a nice taste. Probably because it was something emitting warmth. "I guess we will find out later," he gave her back, starting to grin at her. Pretty sure that she didn't know about what Enma and him did on Corinth, he prefered to not mention anything of it. "Do you happen to be from Los Angeles, by the way?" Changing the topic seemed to be a good idea now, nevertheless.
What kind of grin was that now? She had a hard time figuring out where he was actually going but it was fun for now. Not trying to figure out an enemy or a potential one, just an interesting person. But why he asked her about being from Los Angeles was unexpected yet again.
"That's rather curious. Why'd you guess I'd be from Los Angeles?" She asked, wondering if her accent was similar, maybe someone he knew there who was familiar? Maybe he just felt it fit to her, but why? Uncertainties made her wonder until she figured it out.
Topic successfully changed. Her reaction caused him to reward her with a toothy grin. "The tea," Ezrael replied, nodding at her can. "Curacao is closer to Los Angeles than Manhattan. The local prices reflect that, making Los Angeles the only libertonian world where people buy curacaoan tea more than Liberty Ale or coffee. It's a cliché to many people, but based on that people say the people of Los Angeles are much more likely to enjoy curacaoan tea." Still smirking, he shook his head slightly. "People from Houston have trouble speaking without an accent. Even if they do, they have a certain lip formation, slightly shifted to the side. Something that remains over the years, even when trying to get rid of it. So I doubt you're from Houston. Pretty sure it's Los Angeles. If you were from Manhattan, you would probably preferably drink coffee." Smirking into his cup, he took a long sip, playfully eyeing Admiral Knight over the rim of the cup.