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"It wasn't," Faolan said simply, not willing to give the man anymore. He hadn't liked the rogue Essentic, but he'd not be responsible for him being hunted down.

Faolan chuckled a bit at the other question. "Don't have to be related to be brothers, lad. Tryst and I are . . . you could say we're brothers in all but blood. There's a connection there, true enough. He's my best friend."

"I'm hardly docile or cute," Ziazan pouted--rather cutely, actually--and glared at the man. "I don't know much about my evolution cycle or the human's stupid fear of things they don't understand. They created us, they should have known us better. But then, I wasn't there, so I wouldn't know what my kind did in the past to anger yours. I know I'd never hurt my dad or mama, though. I'd never hurt anyone. It's just not . . . my purpose." The child looked down at the table, moving a hand to idly pick at one of the cards on it, frowning a bit. It knew it wasn't capable of hurting people, but this man was convinced and, well, it had flung itself at the man only moments before out of anger. Zia sighed, closing its eyes, a sorrowful look coming across its features.

Faolan gave a soft snort of laughter. "Mentioned me, did he? I ain't sure how we got close. We met and our . . . well, if you know him then you know Crux. He and Zia wanted to talk and Tryst freaked and dragged me into an alley. I thought he was going to kill me. Then we realized we were . . . of a kind. I invited him to come to Farstep with me to talk and party, he accepted. Now he comes by whenever he pleases. Honestly, the man knows no boundaries sometimes. Scares the hell out of my wife."

Zia looked up at the man, rainbow eyes glistening a bit with unshed tears. "Not being human doesn't exactly mean he can't be emotionally attached to me, or I to him. I do feel. I have a mind and a personality of my own. I'm not human, but I'm not just a thing, either. His attachment to me is no different than the love you hold for that gun."

"I mean we're both halfbreeds. A strange amount I have in common with my brother, but also not a lot. It's sometimes a symbiotic relationship. He needs me and this place and, in my way, I need him and his information of what I really am," Faolan said softly, leaning down to hug Zia gently, knowing his little one was upset.

Zia said nothing more to the man, moving around in its seat to wrap skinny arms around Fao's waist, a child wanting comfort from its parent. Faolan just sighed, stroking the Essentic's back and looked at Kaosu. "Zia's not bad, you know. I don't really know about the first Essentics or any of that, but the ones I know and Zia, they're good people--yes, people. They love and respect their owners and the people around them. Zia loves my wife as a child loves its mother. You can't tell me that Essentics don't have their own souls or that they're just objects."

"Small world indeed, then. Tryst and I are as close as he lets it get, I think. He's welcome to my home anytime he pleases, but I've yet to visit his. Elle doesn't worry about us. She knows what my relationship is to Tryst and that it has no baring on my marriage to her," Fao said, giving the man a look. He was only slightly curious as to why the man cared so much how close he and Tryst were.

Fao looked down at Zia when the man spoke again, then back at Kao. "Zia's never been my servant. I've always treated it as family, as a person. Whatever it was designed to be and what I know Zia to be from living with it . . . I know Zia's a person of its own. It can't be anything else. It identifies too much with people to be just a tool. I don't think it could be anything bad." He gave a small smirk. "And stop calling Zia a 'he'. It's never decided on a gender and I'm not about to let someone that doesn't even know it or like it press being male upon it."

Faolan laughed out loud and long. "Ay, ay, lad, no. Trystan and I are not ********'. Never have. We're just friends." He grinned, nodding. "Aye, my wife is the normal one in the marriage. She's every bit the reason to my chaos, you could say."

He shrugged a bit at the accusations, though. "I never told Zia to call me its dad or to call my wife its mama. It learned that on its own. They are capable of developing some traits on their own, you know. If I had a choice in how it develops, I don't think I'd have let it have its first kiss with Crux. You know Tryst and how he is. He never taught Crux what love was, and yet he does feel it for Zia. They aren't always what we intend them to be."

"Eh, she hardly keeps me in line, but I behave myself true enough for her. Besides, we got bairns on the way and it'd do no good to be stupid and get hurt or other and not be there for her and the weans," Fao said, shrugging. He moved a bit, nudging Zia to let go of him, the little Essentic wiping at its face and looking for all the world like a normal, sullen twelve-year-old child . . . with rainbow eyes.

The young man sat down with a soft sigh. "If Crux was exposed to love, then I'd say Zia was more the one that did it than Tryst. I don't doubt the man's begrudging affection for his Essentic, but he and I raised ours differently and Crux and Zia learned things from each other that we did not teach them. As for how it imitates us, maybe it learned to call me Da from listening to me and my own parent, but I don't know where it learned calling Elle Mama from. I never had a mother and we certainly don't interact with other families here much. Frankly, I'm comfortable with whatever Zia calls me. Maybe it refers to me as its dad because that's how it feels comfortable."

Zia sniffled a little and looked up at the man, speaking in a soft, almost inaudible voice. "Could be that calling him Da makes it easier for me to hide among humans. People are more willing to believe Faolan has a child my apparent age than they are to believe he's harboring an Essentic. I don't mind playing the part of his child if it keeps us both safe. He didn't teach me that, I came up with it on my own."

"Enough." Faolan stood up, hand on Zia's shoulder. "You come in my place of business, in my carnival and dare to insult one of my family members in front of me. No, don't try to call Zia anything else. Whatever you think Essentics are, I know what my Zia is and right now, you're making it cry. I won't have you spouting this nonsense to it and making it feel worthless. Regardless of where or how or what its learned, it doesn't change what it has feelings. I don't think they're mimicked in the least. Zia's proven itself to have real emotions and thoughts. Maybe it thought to blend in as a child now, but only because it didn't look like a child before."

He walked to the door of the booth and opened it, looking pointedly at Kaosu. "Whatever you are to Trystan, it has no baring on how I view you. I think you should leave now before you say anything more. I'd hate to deprive Trystan of his new friend."