She listened to him, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. There was one thing about being understood, being analyzed right there in person was another. "You're right..." She said but her smile weakened even though he'd made such a flattering compliment about it. "Do you always... do this?" She asked, meaning this analysis. He did do it right but she wasn't quite handling that well. He was kind to her but she also only just met him. The day wasn't ruined but she was not sure if she regret trusting him yet.
"I do think paraphrasing and reflection are two very important aspects in dealing with problems. I asked you what you are doing in your spare time because we are in a similar position when it comes to that. Commander Aguilar and I are expected to be leaders, not friends. I personally am not the best at keeping distance to my crew. Sherry is better at that. She is, so to say, the bad cop." He leaned slightly forward, smirking at her. "I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable, Miss Knight, but I take it as a sign that you're not playing games with me. That actually means much to me, as that means the trust and believe in the good within people wasn't for nothing. The last time I met a high-ranked person it horribly backfired because I let her play her games with me. I'd like to make sure something like that doesn't happen again."
Ezrael placed the glass of wine on the table they sat at, giving her a lopsided smirk. "You're probably right, though. Playing psychologist wasn't very diplomatic, at least not in this case."
That was an explanation she could accept and she took a deep breath before sipping her wine again. "So this was some sort of test." She noted and slowly shook her head. "I assume I passed then?" She asked, wondering why that was important to her, had she just felt nearly insulted by him prying so deeply.
Leaning back again and laying one leg over the other, he smirked at her in his typical fashion. "With an A+, admiral." For a moment, a short break of him just smiling until he shook his head slightly to break the stare. His hand moved to his glass of wine - it was time for another good sip. For an admiral, she really was transparent right now. Maybe it was his time to adjust to that, he thought. "To be honest, Miss Knight," he began, looking at the nicely colored liquid in his glass, "I'm frequently in space for two years now. There have been multiple occasions where I could have died. Three times in the last six months alone. I mean, you probably have to face death more often than me, with your war agaisnt Liberty's infection and corruption going on, but the closer I came to death, the more I appreciated living. It is matter of factly one of the reasons why I don't give too much about diplomatic etiquette. I can play along, but I prefer to just play along well enough to not displease people, and I guess I managed that quite well so far, otherwise I wouldn't be in your little sanctuary right now. The taste of wine is more intense to me and the smile of a beautiful woman means more to me. Because each time it could be the last time." Finishing his explanation, he gave her an apologetic look. The smile was only hinted, indicating this was a rather serious topic.
She let out a short laugh and smiled at him. "You're really just go and do what you think is right. And you were right.
So did you just play a long this time or did you honestly enjoy this?" She asked, a bit of an obvious test question of her own. She was willing to keep going, not feeling like he meant anything bad by it. He just seemed somewhat, careless in a way that he could just be free. She envied that. And he did still give her compliments despite business being concluded and the price for more being as low as one could possibly expect.
That question made him smirk. After having taken another sip of the good wine, he looked over at Manhattan as he replied. "Both. However more of the latter." The aftertaste was really inviting to take just another sip, and another. That really was a good wine. "To be honest, I had certain concerns when coming here, Miss Knight. I only knew so much about your battlegroup, and literally nothing about you apart from Sombra mentioning having worked for you. So from all I knew you could have been anything. Bering is known for unlawfuls, and a rogue battlegroup could just have been like, well, those punks that tried to fire on the Apahanta yesterday. To my positive surprise you hold up similar standards in terms of behavior, structure and discipline as the Hellfire Legion. Although I guess your ranking system is less deviant... Starlady Knight?" He grinned at her. The Hellfire Legion ranks were pretty much the first thing Maren and him were joking about when they met in Omicron Delta. Good memories.
She raised an eyebrow shortly at being compared to the Hellfire Legion and then had to laugh out loud. "I never understood why they changed those ranks to those utterly ridiculous versions. Where they upset so much that they had to change it all?" She was honestly amused. She'd never understood the need to change any of their ranks. People were familiar with them and this was still the Navy. True she was now just an Admiral but that was mere convenience and to present herself better to other factions.
"Still we keep them on a distance. They're not trustworthy. But let's not debate about them now." She decided and took another sip and then a deep, calm breath. The Unioners were an alliance of convenience and they deeply respected both the Separatists firepower as well as their ideologies. So there was little fighting between them. "I'm glad your concerns are gone now." Was how she intended to move away from the topic of diplomacy and relations to other organisations again.
Ezrael leaned forward, placing the glass on the table, then he looked over the where he expected the bedroom to be. Then back at her. "Do you have family on Denver?" he asked her. He already knew there was no Mister Knight. The thought made him smirk for a moment, imagining her husband working for the Forlorn Hope, where Knight is an actual title. Knight Knight!
She only briefly followed his glance and looked right back at him. "Parents, a much younger sister, I believe my extended family should at least live there." She said, quite dismissive of this topic. She'd rarely seen them, them being on business travels or deployed. Then she went to boarding schools that already prepared her for a military career.
"I have no contact to them now." She said, not for the first time, wondering what her parents thought of her now. Before she got so far and for the people of Liberty she fell quite far.
At least they were still alive. Ezrael was on his own entirely. And with Maren being infertile, probably the end of this family tree. Not that he cared for such things at all. "And friends? Someone at Freeport 2 or anything?" He was aware she already said she didn't have a partner, but friends were something else, to a certain degree.