Welcome to Gaia! ::

His chin dipped, nodding in the affirmative, as auburn brows rose in silent question. Not that Ever's gaze stayed on him long.

"My mother is roman catholic." Tone implied he didn't hold the religion in high esteem, and his smirk confirmed it. "She grew up in France. A member of the catholic church, although over there some call it 'the eldest daughter of the church'." His mother had been devote, a real saint.

Zeke found the concept of organized religion flawed and pointless.

Zeke lifted his cup in salute, amused.

So far Ever was proving to be a very easy going individual. Refreshing in a way, at least for now. It certainly made the otherwise tedious task of initial small talk a little more bearable.

"Same with my mother. If she could hit her narrow mind around what this place was, and what we did, I think it might give her a stroke." He gave a snort, bringing his cup up again, draining the rest of it in one pull. "Probably still preying for my soul, convinced I was heading for hell, if not for the atheism, then questionable life choices." Questionable had been said as if the word deserved air quotes.

It occurred to him then that he was finally free from the obligatory calls home, the allotted time he allowed her to nag at him, and the ceaseless, passive judgement. He'd cared for his mother, but the woman had been a chore he was now relieved to be free from.

Sinking into a comfortable slouch, Zeke rested his empty cup on his knee, though he did spare the pair of bottles sitting beside him a long glance. Weighing the odds of easy going Ever minding if he helped himself to a refill. He was just figuring the odds were in his favor when the chair he was sitting in was given a tug.

For about a second Ever would meet the resistance of the Mist's feet dragging on the floor, but he lifted them, resting toes on the arms that branched out as the base. He gave the blonde a considering look, as he were making up his mind about something, then let his head roll back against the chair.

'Well it's not worst." Not yet. Time would tell which way the needle fell on the grand scale of things. He did smile though, a lazy amusement resting on tanned features.

He was pretty sure Ever was flirting, though it was just subtle enough to be that sort of overly friendly the man had encountered once or twice in bars around campus. "Your dad was french, does that mean you can speak it?"

"A fisherman?" Zeke grinned at that, brows sinking down over subtly narrowed eyes.

Not being from France himself, nor ever visiting, the shorter of the two couldn't have guessed the difference between the smooth french his mother had spoken, and whatever dialect Ever used. His exposure to the language, while adequate enough for him to have learned it, was limited to a very specific region. "Oui," he offered back, noting their proximity as Ever rolled up to lean forearms on his knees. "Ma mère était dans une petite ville au nord de Paris."

Zeke didn't seem the least bit perturbed. Not when Ever had pulled his chair closer, and not now. He remained in that easy slouch, though his attention had narrowed down on the blonde. While he was by no means flawless in his french, he knew enough to have caught the casual use of the question over the more formal.

"I can speak and understand the language, but I wouldn't consider myself fluent." Not taking his eyes off the blonde, Zeke reached over to place his empty cup on the edge of the desk, freeing up his hands. It was a calculated move. Subtle, but deliberate.

"Good to know." And it was. Any little bit of information provided about the island and those that lived on it was appreciated, no matter how seemingly insignificant it might be. Zeke was a sponge, soaking it all in and filing it away for later.

Ever leaned in, reaching past him for the bottles on the desk at his back, and Ezekiel had to hand it to the other man, he was bold. While nothing Ever had done as of yet could be considered obvious, he certainly wasn't being subtle, either. Either reading Zeke unnervingly well, or testing the waters just to see what would happen.

The mist didn't make a point to wave his sexuality around. He liked what he liked, and that managed to encompass both sexes. Not hiding his tastes, not flaunting either. But he also didn't much enjoy beating around the bush. He could let Ever keep pushing, until he confirmed an obvious suspicion, or he could simply offer that little bit of knowledge up voluntarily and see what the other man did with it. Reclaiming his cup, he leveled hazel eyes on the other man, smiling. "If you're trying to gauge my reaction to your progressively closer proximity, I'm not going to shrink away in disgust." The cup was lifted to his lips, and he took a small drink. "Your assumptions are correct."

Zeke smirked, rather enjoying that startled reaction before Ever had remained his seat. He'd thrown him, but the blonde recovered quickly, smiling before spitting out something equally as forward.

The smirk grew, almost challenging. "Well isn't that just a shame."

Not taking his eyes of much darker ones, Zeke brought his cup back to his lips, sipping at the contents.

Zeke's head went back on a tilt, still watching Ever, still smiling. That faintly amused, almost enigmatic smirk that seemed to be in direct relation to The other man's handle on the situation. It grew as Ever shifted, a silent invitation to move closer, but one Ezekiel held off on taking, for now. Still interested to see just how bold the Lifer could be. How interested he might be.

When a situation called for a pursuit, Zeke would pursue. When it did not. When he caught the signals--the deliberate proximity, the glances--he preferred to wait, to watch. It made it all so much more interesting, and wasn't thaw point?

So Zeke kept his seat, and he laced his fingers loosely around his cup, resting them on his stomach, eyes very steady on Ever's face. A silent challenge. "I find interest to be very subjective. I'm also not usually in the habit of wasting my time. If you weren't at least a little interesting I wouldn't have followed you, or stuck around." There was a certain cold honesty to his logic, but his tone had been mild, and he retained the smile. He wasn't being an a**, on purpose, just clarifying a point for future knowledge.