Stealth and Tracking, indoors combat, combat language and all subjects within that, history (man had Kazue insisted on that one), and interestingly enough… sniping. Zeno takes a drink of his coffee, watching the hustle and bustle of the main lobby as he waits patiently for the subject of recent thoughts to pass through on her regular route through this area. Today is another day on his own – Casra had been called away, and he'd smiled and waved the man off, promising that he'd behave himself and do nothing more stressful than take a walk around Ship One, maybe grab some coffee. He'd had to console Kazue that he wouldn't be causing trouble, and she'd eyed him suspiciously the whole time before giving him one of her rib-cracking hugs and leaving him to his own devices – and a fridge full of takeout in case he didn't want to cook.
So far, he's run into a few Class Trainers – Marlu had stopped by a few minutes ago to quietly hold a conversation with him about Kazue and her research – and Ohza, who he'd greeted amiably despite the man's less than thrilled response (He'd shown the man up once and the guy still held a grudge, sheesh). Finally, his subject arrives, and he allows a faint smile to grace his features when the girl notices him. She shrinks in on herself initially, before timidly walking the scant distance out of her usual pattern.
"Hello Matoi." Zeno says kindly, the girl shrinking in on herself briefly before managing to offer him a thin, trembling smile. "Kazue said you were feeling better." She relaxes upon hearing Kazue's name, and her warmth grows.
"H-hello," she waves a little, hands clasped tightly together as she observes him, wide eyed and short of breath. He towers above her, and Zeno kneels so that he doesn't seem nearly so large. Her smile eases into relief, and he smiles back at her.
"You wanted to talk to me?" He prompts gently, and she nods slowly.
"Y-yes," she confirms nervously. "I wanted to thank you… Kazue is much happier when I see her…" She shuffles her feet, and Zeno gently tousles her hair, receiving a flinch before she accepts the touch, anxious eyes looking up at him.
"Thank you for telling me that," he says kindly. "I sometimes worry that I'm not helping her out enough," he chuckles ruefully, and Matoi's anxious gaze eases at his tone, a small smile on her face at his obvious candor. She's awkward and shy – a far cry from Kazue's open confidence in most things. He digs around in his pocket, offering the girl one of the many granola bars he carried with him. (Recently he'd been hungry at the oddest of times, and this was his solution for the problem for the moment.) She accepts the offer, smiling appreciatively as she opens the wrapper and takes a big bite out of it.
"Matoi? Matoi dear!" Philia stops dead at the sight of them both – her lips purse in a frown of disapproval, though whether it's at her choice of snack or her deviation from her usual routine. "There you are – I was starting to worry," Philia scolds kindly, resting a hand on Matoi's head. "Head on back now – we have one more test to do for today." Matoi wilts a little, but waves her goodbye, mouth occupied with food. Philia and Zeno watch her leave, and she turns her gaze on him, her face graced with a look of… distrust?
"What are you doing here?" She asks, and it's the unfriendliest he's ever heard the woman. Zeno blinks at her incredulously.
"I came to see Matoi. Kazue mentioned that she was well enough to have visitors." Kazue's name softens the woman, but she doesn't seem to trust him at all, which is a far cry from previous interactions.
"Oh? And that's all you're here for?" She says archly. "Casra may have fooled the rest of the ARKs, but I know he has an interest in her. Just the other day Luther came by trying to gain access to her." Zeno blinks, before his mouth drops open, too stunned to be insulted at first.
"I… Excuse me?" He says, anger glowing over his features as he registers her words. "You honestly think I'm here for Casra?" He straightens, and Philia takes a step back, suddenly worried. Zeno dimly realizes that there are people staring at him, but there's a bone deep fury raging in his soul at the implications that he would dare spy on a healing civilian. "After all of the things I've done, how I've worked with you, you honestly believe I would ever put one of yours in danger? Because Casra asked me to work with him on locating a possible Falz, I'm somehow suddenly less trustworthy?" She cringes immediately at how it sounds. "I can't believe you." He says the words quietly, watches her flinch. "Fine. Have it your way," he dusts his hands off. "I won't approach Matoi again."
He's not going to debase himself by screaming at her. He manages to make it well away, ignoring her cry for him to wait, instead disappearing through to the shopping area. He stalks his way past an odd-looking woman with her hair up in a severe bun before he pauses. Turning back, he sees nothing there in the space she had occupied. His anger is spent, confused curiosity creeping in to take its place. He takes a moment to observe the area, but once he determines there's nothing there, he wonders why he thought he'd seen something. He shrugs a little to himself, but finds that the distraction, temporary as it had been, had dissipated much of his temper and left him a little lost and confused.
"Zeno!" Casra's voice jolts him back to reality, and he turns to face him, a crooked smile curling over his lips at the sight of his temporary 'boss'. "There you are," he smiles at the younger man fondly. "I was just finished with my meeting. Are you alright?" The question brings back the uncomfortable memory, and his expression sours at the comment.
"No." He says shortly, expression twisting. "But it's not important," Zeno shakes his head, though Casra's own look is arch, as though he doesn't believe him. "Really, it isn't." He insists, and Casra rolls his eyes at him.
"The last time I saw you like this you'd just run into Gettemholt." Zeno winces at the accurate comparison and tries a different angle.
"I don't want to talk about it." He says instead, and Casra hums, hand resting on his shoulder as he looks the man over. Whatever inspection he's given is passed, and Zeno gets a gentle nod and squeeze.
"Alright then. Let me know when you do." Casra smiles at him, nudging him towards the barracks. "I actually wanted to ask a few questions – I have to know." The teasing tone makes Zeno's lips tug up into a smirk, shoulders easing as the pair walk side by side down towards the city. "Why in Pantheon's name are you still living in the barracks? I've seen you work – the money you get for missions is higher than any other field ARKs save for the Council." Zeno grins sheepishly, tries not to hide behind his sudden worry at Casra's words.
"Why? You looking to kick me out of barracks?" He's teasing, but Casra rolls his eyes.
"Not a chance in Oracle," Casra says in return. "A better apartment means more resources, right? If you want to teach that student of yours, what better than to get a better place, so you can teach her more without people eavesdropping?" His hackles raise, and Casra's gaze slides over to him, a subtle shake of his head telling him to go with it. "You know how the paranoid types work. Maria, Regius… they drag their poor, unfortunate victims off to these elaborate apartments for theoretical training and nobody ever sees them again." Zeno chuckles at the joke, but the message is received well.
Barracks aren't safe for Kazue and him. Maybe even Casra – though considering he'd never even stepped foot on the same floor as Casra's assigned room, he supposes the man has his own privacy well in hand.
"Why don't you join me then?" He's only teasing in return, but Casra's considering gaze turns wicked, and he blushes because he knows what those words out of his damnable mouth will be.
"Oh? Is that an invitation to stay with you?" Casra practically purrs the words, and Zeno groans at the opening he'd made, half-laughing. "You're getting forward," Casra laughs, hand reaching up to ruffle his hair affectionately. Zeno ducks back, a little offended. That was what he did to his minion dammit. "Sure, I'll join you, but I'm not cooking." He laughs again at Zeno's exaggerated groan of embarrassment, before he smiles warmly, looping his arm over the man's shoulders, the Newman speaking quietly into his ear. "I'd suggest moving out by next week – you've seen the techs crawling over the building in the last month or so, mm?" His words ghost softly past an ear, suggestive in the way only Casra can be, drawing both a flush and an embarrassed little glare towards him for it.
"I'd noticed." And he had, but lapsed practice had seen that his suspicion fell to the wayside, instead assuming innocently that the systems were merely being overhauled. The years of practice that he'd put in for the academy, the training that he'd undergone to be part of the Intelligence Division had faded over time – he'd become a Hunter in more ways than he'd wanted. His eyes narrow, and Casra chuckles.
"Don't assume anything is innocently done around here," he continues quietly as the two make it to the entryway. "But I've been putting in an application for a nice place – three rooms, plenty of space to share with the open-plan design. Gorgeous view especially." The last one makes Zeno's eyes flicker to Casra, to gauge the man's reaction. He's smiling slyly, that little niggle of knowing too much there and –
Oh. The desire of flight leaves him, when he considers the offer. A safe space – known quantities in a place he'd always felt safest. High ground, excellent view. Few corners to hide things in – secrets, especially – and an offer rather than a demand.
Kazue had described them as being like one another. Zeno had called him a kindred spirit at least once. Clearly Casra felt the same, or he wouldn't have made such an offer. Casra wouldn't have made an offer this blatant if he didn't think he could trust Zeno to stay by his side without slipping a knife into it.
"Dunno. What kind of view?" He asks the question before the silence can stretch too long, before Casra can get impatient. (Take it as a rejection) Casra hums idly, taps his fingers against the keypad on the door to get it to open the stairwell. No instantaneous transport. The two flights of stairs weren't much, but there was significance in the offer.
"Killer," is the simple reply, and Zeno chuckles softly. They stop at his floor, and he's about to go into the hallway, pauses when he realizes that Casra had made no move to join him.
"Join me? I can't exactly figure out what apartment you want to share if we're sitting in the stairwell chatting like old biddies." Casra's whole body eases, a slow smile slipping over handsome features as the man catches the edge of the door to follow him.
Trust. Kazue had suggested it, the same night she'd hashed out her theoretical lesson plans with him. Little shows of faith, the same way Casra had opened up to him. Subtle spars, hand to hand that ended often with his hands near Casra's throat or in position to break the fragile man in half. Lessons for Kazue, the gift of a skilled Force's notes. Most tellingly, sharing missions and relying on him to keep his pristine record. He stops at his door, digging through his pockets for his key and hiding his face. Casra was skilled at manipulation. But this wasn't subtle enough to be his touch. Perhaps the spars were a start to a slower path, but he'd warmed quickly to Zeno in a manner not unlike how he'd first met Echo, filthy and starving on the street.
"Come in," he says, more to snap himself out of his own thoughts than anything. Casra's smile is faint, but relieved. He can just see past the glare of his glasses, and Zeno realizes yet again that Casra's eyes were extremely expressive. It was little wonder that Casra hid his gaze behind so many barriers if he was normally so open.
Not for the first time, Zeno wonders why he was head of intelligence and what motivated him to be.
Casra's gaze is focused entirely on the mockup of the Mission Control Station, raising a brow in impressed intrigue.
"This is nice," Casra smiles awkwardly, though the curious little flicks of his gaze return to it multiple times. He indulges Casra's curiosity, smiling.
"It's an old setup I'm restoring," Zeno laughs, nudges Casra over to it. Given permission, Casra is immediately like a Trainee in a weapons shop, curiously poking at it and admiring it quietly. He doesn't touch – no, nothing like that. But his fingers ghost over edges, wistful pleasure on his features. "It's out of date, if you can't tell." Casra gives an inelegant snort, before chuckling softly.
"Clever as the devil and twice as pretty - this isn't that far out of date," Casra murmurs, glancing his way before looking at the screens once more. "If you didn't have one running when you graduated, I'll eat my hat." Zeno's cheeks flush at the compliment. He didn't know what the hell to say, but the compliment does nice things to his ego. The astute observation does make him bristle slightly, and Casra flashes an apologetic smile. "Sorry," he chuckles slightly. "Force of habit." Zeno smiles at him, soothing away the sharpness of suspicion that prickles up his spine.
"I know," he reaches out to lightly touch his shoulder, expression warming as Casra leans into his touch. "You want some tea?" Casra glances over him after his thorough examination of the room, and he blinks curiously, removing his hat and glasses. He seems less burdened these days when he takes that action, and Zeno likes to think it's him and Kazue, chipping away at his insecurities.
"I thought you didn't like tea," Casra sounds amused by that, and Zeno pulls a face.
"It's hot leaf juice. I don't. But Kazue is my student, and you know how she gets without a cup." Miserable, moping, and droopy. Like a puppy without any feed. Zeno had made that mistake once and he'd refused to do it again. Casra chuckles softly, but he's touched – Zeno can see it in the way his fingers lightly trail over his shoulder.
"I'd love a cup, thank you." Zeno gives a nod, and gestures for him to take a seat at the tiny kitchen island, already preparing himself a cup of coffee while he roots through his cabinets for the white peach tea Kazue had stored. She'd shown him how to brew a proper cup, and while it still tasted like hot leaf juice to him, he'd kind of gotten the appeal.
Coffee was still vastly superior though.
Casra brightens when the cup is deposited before him, a plate over the rim to allow it to steep, a pleased hum leaving his throat as he fiddles with his fingers. Zeno pulls a metal tin out from one of the shelves and offers it to him.
"Here. Tea sweets. Kazue spends as much time in my apartment as I do, so she bought some for herself – but I don't think she'd mind." Long fingers curl around the box, and he curiously peers inside.
"Oooh, she bought the good stuff," Casra says in mingling delight and pleasure. He gingerly accepts one and puts it the top of the plate, allowing it to warm without heating it. "I have to find out where she got them. I always have to go to an actual tea shop to find decent ones." Zeno huffs, glad for his simpler tastes in drink. Coffee was good with everything thank Pantheon. But the pleasure on Casra's face at something so silly and simple made him smile slightly, because it was so very honest. A common ground between his little rookie and the cool, calculating third. They don't talk until Casra finally removes the plate and puts it aside.
The soft glow of green makes Zeno's eyes raise, when Casra idly uses a Technique to remove the tea leaves from his drink.
"I thought limiters kept people from using Techniques," Zeno quips, and Casra smiles up at him sheepishly, having started slightly. The awkwardness, the way his fingers curl around the cup and tug a centimeter closer to his chest – he had forgotten where he was. Zeno wants that casual ease back, so he keeps talking. "Kazue's going to be so jealous – she always has to spit the leaves out." Casra is startled into a laugh, before he shakes his head and answers him.
"It's hard to cast with the limiters, but it can be done. It'll never be as strong as in the field, but it does the job I want it to. Something to consider," he says thoughtfully, falling into a familiar song and dance of instruction that Zeno lets him do, fond. They sit together, sipping at their respective cups, and finally, Casra nibbles on his snack, before pulling out his phone to tap against it.
"Here," he offers the phone, and Zeno sees the apartment that he'd mentioned, curiosity piqued. "While we're at it, I'd like to talk about Kazue…"