Welcome to Gaia! ::

An entirely unhelpful answer received the sort of look it deserved, but Ezekiel did take a step back, allowing Ever to walk back inside, then following a moment after to find the blonde had once again been swallowed up by the crowd.

In a uncharitable mood, the tall man employed a bit more elbow than was politely excusable on his way back to the bar, but should anyone turn a scowl in his direction he was quick to placate their annoyance with a benign smile and a sincere sounding apology. The exchange in the alley hadn't gone at all the way the man had been planning for it to go, and that alone left him irritable. Ezekiel liked control, and currently held next to none. Least til the pocket watch was in his possession again, then there was much more opportunity to shift the balance.

At the bar again the tender gave him another curious look, but that was all as he filled a new glass with a double finger's measure of brandy.

A few of the girls had been worth watching, if only for the performance they put on, rather than what should have been a tantalizing amount of skin. They didn't sway Ezekiel as they might another man. He'd watched with half-lidded, bored eyes before something in the crowd ultimately claimed his attention, though not for long. It wasn't that they weren't pretty. In fact they were very aesthetically pleasing, but the man wasn't moved by aesthetics. He needed conversation, a quick wit, and a challenge.

By the time the bar had emptied the doctor-in-training had been poured an additional splash of amber liquor, though he was still sipping at that when Ever finally showed himself again.

It looked like Ever had been rolling around in some dusty corner somewhere when he came back. Disheveled, with a smudge of dirt on the side of his nose, he looked every bit the street urchin Ezekiel assumed him to be. H looked him up and down as he came striding over and offered a hand. A hand that, in his current state, he half considered just swatting away, but instead took after a slight moment of hesitation.

He rose back to his feet, finishing off what was left of the brandy in his glass and setting it back on the bar. "Right. Here, or...?"

He wanted to argue that, considering Ever thought it was a good idea to steal another man's watch and try to sell it back to him. But he kept his mouth shut, at least for now, as he followed the blonde back out of the bar and through halls that did indeed look familiar.

A few curious glances were aimed their way, the occasional light of recognition from the girls that had been around when Ezekiel had been their earlier on business. He didn't bother looking back, but kept his eyes instead of the shorter man walking along in front of him.

This was all going just a little oddly. If Ever were a bigger man, or if Ezekiel were smaller, he might have accepted the lose of the watch by now, suspicious at this point, as the blonde led him through the halls and back to the room he'd treated the dancer in. When they entered, he half expected to see someone else there waiting for him, Ever's partner in crime.

But it would seem they were alone. Pale eyes jumped to the bed the girl had been laid out in earlier, then up to the man now perched on the edge of it before patting a hand against his pocket in answer.

"Where's the watch?"

He was being hasty, letting his anger get the better of him, when more often than not the young doctor kept his cool. The brandy certainly wasn't helping matters.

Even knowing what Ever was going to do, Ezekiel made a grab for the thing as it swung slowly back and forth from long, slender fingers. He'd had to step closer to do it, shin very nearly bumping Ever's knee, but all the same, his fingers closed around nothing but air as the smaller man jerked the watch back and out of reach. A small growl of frustration followed, the swipe of fingers through his hair to push slightly disheveled lengths back off his brow. "Why would it? It's not the name of a noble family." He'd already told him as much earlier.

He could have just left the money and be done with it--taken the financial hit, while saving himself a lot of time and trouble--but he was already invested. It would have been like allowing this man to get away with stealing from him twice, and while usually Ezekiel would have let it go, this time he didn't seem capable of it.

"It's not." He eyed the smaller man with very obvious contempt. Hand still at his side, and not moving at all towards his pocket.

He could just taken it back. It wasn't as if the blonde was intimidating. Quite the opposite, really. It looked as if a strong wind could have given him troubles. It wouldn't take much to over power him, it wouldn't even be a challenge. A minute, tops, and he'd be walking out of here with his property, and that would be that.

A small step forward, and his knee came up, bracing on the mattress at Ever's side. It wasn't the best set up, balance wise, but it brought him closer, kept his hands free enough to go for the front of a dust covered shirt.