"Thank you Mister Vertiga." She said rather formally, thinking then if she wanted to order anything already. Then decided against it, considering her command structure and possible suggestions. They weren't that well funded to just buy everything. Though how come he had just made her a price so much lower than he'd intended to? "I believe I should wait with further orders, this is no small investment and I'd like to talk to my staff for further weapons." She added then, cringing inside at having forced their calm conversation to this formal business. Usually it'd have probably been the other way around. "I believe you can send those to us in a similarly quick fashion?" She asked then and barely feared he'd mock her for being so formal now.
"Yes. And I agree. I won't be gone that quickly. Take your time when making the decision. You know how to get in touch with me, Admiral." Similarly to her, his tone had adjusted as well, however his charming smirk remained slightly. Another sip. He still had the feeling it was colder than on the Apahanta. The tea was helping, definitely. "Any further business-related questions?
"Nothing that'd require me asking right away. I'll wait until my people saw the presentation as well." She explained and pushed her empty cup forward a bit. "I'm curious to see the results of these weapons. Surely they'll be useful."
After that she smiled again and let out a small sigh. "That concludes our deal now then." She stated and her smile got a bit warmer. "I believe for the rest of the day we still have a whole station to show you."
Smirking wide again, he placed his emptied cup on the table as well. "I take it that excludes certain areas. What I am the most curious about is your rooms, to be perfectly honest. I've never been in the room of an admiral. In my headcanon, there is this obligatory showcase of golden warship models, pictures of the flagship orbiting the homeworld and an aquarium." Ezrael leaned back, scratching his nose for a moment. "And a window showing the space. But I guess with all the debris surrounding the station and every now and then scratching on its hull, you probably have a more internal room for yourself, not one at the hull."
She looked very surprised at first, not thinking he would be that bold to ask to go to her rooms. The following words then brought her smile back and put her at ease. "You'll be very disappointed. I have neither fish nor golden ship models." She said amused, nearly laughing now. "The window does display Manhattan sometimes though." She said with a light smirk now.
Considering the business was concluded she just got up. There was a room ready for Mister Vertiga but she thought that already going for the tour would be no problem. "Why don't we go already." She suggested.
Slowly standing up, he kept his eyes on her. It was not like he was majorly interested in visiting the station. He didn't think there was anything that would surprise him to be there. A military station. Barracks, hangars, officer clubs and what not. Yet, it was better to play along and not expect too much, so the surprise would be bigger. With the PDA disconnected, he put it back into the inner pocket of his jacket. "How many people live on this station? Probably a few houndred?" he asked her, thinking it was a good introduction of another topic. He would keep his eyes on her, every now and then giving her shapes a discreet peek. Looked like she was younger than him.
Victoria decided that just showing him the normal parts of the station wouldn't be interesting at all. In a way many things were similar from station to station. What was different on Marshall were certainly the people. Then the military looks while there was frantic repairs ongoing on them. The Navy was rarely this busy and desperate to patch up a single Guardian. Victoria took him to the hangars and repair bays first.
They'd left the room and she told the guards that'd waited there to return to duty and went to show Vertiga around without any guards directly behind them. They'd be watched of course but not in a distracting way. The bays were busy as usual, fixing up the ships with scavenged parts mostly. She was really glad that they could keep the fight going.
On the way to a more interesting spot they'd get through the more public spaces, civilians of the movement, people off duty or a select few suppliers and allies were crowding these spaces. There was mess halls and even restaurants by now and small stores for the people. Like any station had but for these people it was now a luxury rather than something basic.
She would hardly show him everything but they did go to the production facilities and research labs. Through a thick window they would look at a weapons lab assembling an Ion Blaster Cannon that they'd dismantled for research. A lot further was more of a theoretical lab. Only very few people worked on deciphering experimental data about Jump Drives.
She gave him a small smile before taking him back into the normal military section of the station where she'd stop in front of a door. At the side it said her name on a plate.
"I wouldn't keep you from looking at an Admiral's quarters if you're so curious about them." She told him and opened the door. She had a small apartment which was still somewhat of a luxury. The door lead into a tiny space which then opened up to form a work and living room. There was another door so she could leave into the less restricted area of the station too. A tiny pantry on one side, a bathroom door next to it. The window on one side of the room was indeed showing Manhattan. A recording or a simulation.
"I told you. No fish. No golden models." She said with a smirk.
There were a few things that actually caught him in surprise - especially the civilian area. But it made sense. The Separatists had families and friends, too, and not all of them able to pilot a fighter or man a station of a battleship. Even Corinth had a public area for civilians and guests, something he knew all too well. His crew was visiting the station quite frequently to not go crazy in Omicron Kappa.
Another surprise was the fact that she actually had lead him here, to her room. Her behavior had changed during their tour, to a more respectful one, which made him adjust to it. But now that they were on their own, it was rather informal again. Taking a good look at her furniture while they entered her room, he couldn't help but smirk. The similarities to Sherry were quite amusing. "I guess you don't get visited here frequently," he asked her, his eyes focused on the screen showing Manhattan. Interesting choice, the capital instead of her homeworld, Denver.
Finally she would allow herself to shrug, lightly but she did. "I can't remember any visitor. If you don't count someone fetching me or waking me up for an emergency." She said while leaving him mostly alone, this time grabbing a cup to make coffee. She was just slightly, the day had been long despite this pleasant surprise of a meeting.
"I'd rather talk while having a cup of coffee. Do you want anything?" She asked, regretting that she was letting this move so far away from the professional borders they'd set earlier. But maybe that was the right thing to do, she wasn't sure yet. She was nervous again, having let someone in here, so busying herself making coffee was a good distraction.
He couldn't remember when the last time he got invited to a woman's room under the offer of a cup of coffee was. Ususally, he was the one to invite them, and rarely to anything else than a hotel or his old home ship, the Hoffnungsschimmer. And then Maren appeared and it ended, both the Hoffnungsschimmer and the inviting - at least to a certain degree. "Another cup of tea would be nice. I take you don't get to enjoy a glass of wine here, being required to be ready anytime?" Ezrael asked, moving to the closest chair to take a seat while watching her. Since he was a storybook hedonist, he couldn't think of denying himself a glass of wine, at least one or two per week. Even on the Apahanta.
