"I should hit you," Kazue sulks from her spot on the campship. Zeno understands her feelings, but practically speaking, he knows that Casra's motivations for telling the lie in earshot of the crawling techs was honest. "Rogio's been assassinated? You scared four years off of my life." She's tucked up in a blanket that Casra had provided, sipping at her tea as they head towards Lillipa in search of the missing scientist. Zeno's been cleared, albeit reluctantly, for a field mission, and he's glad to get out of

"Minion." Casra doesn't say anything, instead raising an eyebrow over his own cup and closing his mouth, curious to see what his answer was. "Casra can't tell you that the assassination failed. He's head of the intelligence department." Kazue's green eyes go round behind her tea, and the man tilts his head towards Zeno in respect, a smile on his lips.

"He's completely correct. Here we are safe – this is my personal campship, and I check it for bugs every time I use it." He chuckles a little, though the sound is hollow. "I am sorry dear," he sounds apologetic, and that satisfies Zeno for the moment. She huffs at his apology, stirring her tea with a fingertip.

"Vengance will be mine." She says in return, and Zeno bites his lower lip to hide a laugh. "Quit laughing," she grumbles when their only reaction is amusement.

"Don't worry minion," he reassures her when she glares balefully over her cup of tea at them both, "I'll help you plan your revenge." Casra no longer seems amused, and his glance slides carefully into worry.

"Oh dear," he decides on, and Zeno chuckles. "I suppose I'll have plenty to worry over when you and I share that apartment." Kazue's head jerks up, and Zeno winces internally.

"Apartment?" Kazue squeaks, eyes going wide. She turns her accusing look on Zeno this time, and he raises his hands defensively. "Zeeeeeeno," she whines, and he glowers at Casra, who's gone right back to being amused. "You didn't tell me you were getting a roommate!" She's pouting when he looks at her, and he sighs, rubs his forehead.

"Minion, I literally had no time to tell you. I swear I would have if Casra hadn't interrupted us." She eyes him dubiously, before huffing. "I promise I was," Zeno says the words with some annoyance, and after a moment, she accepts his response.

"Fine," she huffs. "But I get to decorate," she tells him stubbornly, Zeno rolling his eyes heavenward.

"My god Kazue," he huffs, using her real name to denote how annoyed he was, though he's smiling at her fondly all the same. "I can't believe you. Fine you can decorate. But keep it tasteful." Casra's lips quirk up, deep amusement on his features, though he doesn't say a word.

Thankfully, the whole conversation has Kazue nicely derailed from her original topic, sipping her tea and quietly plotting both of their demises as she anxiously tries to ignore the fact that they were heading towards Rogio's last known whereabouts. It's mercifully silent, before Casra bites his lower lip, hesitantly speaks. "I won't be able to go with either of you – and Zeno… as much as I hate to say it, it's not wise for you to do so either." Zeno feels indignant, bristling at the implied reprimand. "It's not a good idea given that your reputation has taken a hit for associating with me." Casra says the words gently but firmly, and it's almost a physical blow, sinking him back into his seat from the shock. Kazue's gaze flits between them both, her head tilting like a confused puppy. "We can investigate something else while we're there, but Kazue must go alone." And despite it, he can see Casra's faintly disappointed look, half-hidden behind his glasses and hat. "We have a slightly more pertinent job." Zeno feels the outrage, head snapping up before realizing that Casra is wearing a more serious look than he'd expected.

"What kind of job?" Kazue's voice is tentative, small. She's no happier about going it alone than he is, but she's listening.

"You said that the masked person went after you when you found a missing piece of the weapon." He says the words grimly, and a chill runs up Zeno's spine at the tone. "Rogio's study into the climate has gifted the young man with a great many readings – including that of both our mystery Falz and the piece of the weapon that you said they attacked you for." Kazue stiffens. "Our job will to prevent Rogio from being found while you're looking for him by that mysterious entity. Additionally, the same readings have started emitting in the tunnels of Lillipa's subterranean areas." Kazue's spine straightens with purpose this time, not fear, and Zeno bites his lower lip. "Your friend Afin is already down on Lillipa, and I believe Miss Fourier is among the species you helped her find – you could certainly make use of their skills to help you, and we will run as much interference between yourself and that… thing," his voice twists with audible disgust, though his expression remains neutral as ever. "Will find itself in a world of trouble with us." Zeno can get behind a plan like that, he thinks, and looking at the almost awed expression on her face, he has to wonder what she's thinking.

"You'd do that for me?" Her question is awed, voice small in the face of such obvious care for her. Casra smiles at her, his expression a lot sweeter and milder than his usual ones. Zeno saves this one for future dissection.

"I like to think that wanting to protect a friend is a natural progression of events," he says the words carefully, but for Casra, they were monumental. The girl shucks her blankets aside, only pausing to set her cup down before she flings herself into Casra's arms, the man giving a startled noise at the action he should have expected from the younger woman. He looks horribly awkward at first, but he carefully fits his arms around her, Zeno smiling and encouraging him when the man delivers a baffled look his way, lost as to how to handle this change in her behavior. Kazue has rarely initiated contact with him, always hesitant to perform affectionate actions as Casra was himself, and it was good for them, Zeno thinks with a smile, as the exuberant girl drowns him in more affection than he could have ever asked for. Casra relaxes after a long moment, settling into the hug and resting his cheek on top of her head, the two curled around one another. It takes a bit of nudging before they're both comfortable, but it's nice. They look good together like that, and something in him twists a little painfully. Casra pulls away, and Kazue detangles herself from him to give him a hug of his own, which he accepts with a bit of surprise – though it wasn't as if he didn't want one – rather the opposite. She fits easily, settling into a familiar space in his arms, causes him to smile, a warmth spreading through him as he curls her close. Casra's expression is wistful, and Zeno frees an arm to offer the man a hug of his own, to which he shakes his head, unwilling to intrude. Zeno sighs and yanks the man over, watching him give an undignified squeak as he's forcibly made to join them. Kazue's gleeful at toppling the man's usual calm, happily taking her vengeance and snapping a photo just as Zeno, sensing opportunity, snatches his hat off his head. His startled look is picture perfect, and he glowers at them both, glasses askew and hair rumpled in a glorious mess.

"Really?" He complains in exasperation, though his lips are already curling into a smile, pleased to be included in something so amusingly harmless. He still accepts the hug, and Casra leans into them both briefly, before pulling away and taking his hat back, a faint pout on his fair features. Zeno shrugs, smiling. No sense missing a chance for a little fun given the lack of it in the future. Casra chuckles at them, before leaning back against his chair, the tense air around him fading at the little show of trust. There's a sort of intrigue in having the man relax so deeply at their shows of faith, but Zeno smiles at the man, watches him ease at such displays, and wonders as to the mysterious Third's past.

Once Kazue has resettled herself back happily in her blanket and is back to sipping at her tea, Casra continues, curiously looking her over. Though he's smiling, Zeno notes that he's more thoughtful about something than Zeno feels comfortable with. Casra's curiosity was an interesting thing, but not always good.

"We'll be dropping you off at your partner's last known location," Casra says evenly. "He should be expecting you, so don't worry about distracting him from his work. I may or may not have terrified him into staying nearby." Kazue looks distinctly unimpressed with him, and he smiles slyly at her. "Now, don't look so annoyed. There was no lasting harm done – and I agreed to trade him some files in exchange for delaying his work for a day." Kazue squints at him but sighs and accepts it.

"Fine. But if my aibou is even vaguely scarred from the encounter I will shake you." She grumbles, only faintly joking, and Casra chuckles in return. The campship slows, and the portal opens, fractal blooms of light spiking into the air to signal it was ready. They watch her disappear, and Casra lifts ha hand to stop him gently.

"Give her a head start." Casra says slowly. "I need time to calibrate for our unwanted guest and letting her go ahead gives us a chance to talk." Zeno eyes him, curious even as he leans back to listen to his 'boss' speak. "While we have the time, I feel this might be important." Zeno's spine straightens, and the timbre of Casra's voice seems to darken slightly. "Unfortunately for us, our mystery guest has a fascination with Kazue. With Rogio otherwise… indisposed, at the moment, to continue his work, I took the liberty of cross-checking those records of his with that of the known wavelength of Kazue's assailant. I don't think that girl's completed a solo mission without that creature stalking her." Zeno's teeth grit, and the anger that he'd felt at the beginning sparks up again, burning in his gut hungrily as his famous – or perhaps infamous – temper is forced to heel so he can finish listening. Casra's gaze hasn't wavered from him, and Zeno realizes uncomfortably that there's a fascination in his gaze. "You really are something else," Casra says softly, and Zeno's face heats, makes him look away. "No, really," Casra stresses the words with a smile. "Your protectiveness is famous you know," he chuckles a little, obviously enjoying Zeno's growing mortification. "The oh-so determined Zeno, and woe be to any fool who dares touch someone under his protection." Zeno's face grows even hotter, and he buries his head in his hands, whining loudly at the teasing affection.

"Please tell me that's not a thing oh Pantheon," he moans, hearing Casra chuckle at the delicious irony.

"Oh no. ARKs get warned about you. You're a scary story to our newbies." He's teasing, but Zeno gives another little moan of embarrassment all the same.

"This is a punishment for something I did wrong in a past life," he complains, and Casra chuckles, standing.

"Hey, famously protective isn't a bad label," he points out. "Better than famously destructive like another one of our colleagues." Zeno's nose wrinkles, but he accepts the point, standing along with the man to exit into the dusty tunnels of Lillipa.