Ezra immediately flinched when the knife came out. It wasn't so much that they believed Stare, who was supposedly a good friend of Nevin's, would actually harm them. But after their adventure in Salvar and the near life-ending incidents with the Church of the Ethereal Sway, the paranoia of being hunted down by one of the Church's mage hunters had always lingered in the back of their mind. Their left arm burst into lightning, the purple streaks of electricity bounding from their palm down their forearm. Their eyes were wide but both the emotional outburst as well as the lightning magic vanished after a brief moment. Their facial features returned to the usual stoic appearance they always carried as the realization the kenku was simply going to use the knife to draw blood for Nevin's alchemy.

"Ah... sorry. I have had some... less than positive experiences when it comes to myself and someone else with a knife in the same room." They stated, stretching their fingers to relax how tense their hand had become. The lightning magic was a rather new spell for the homunculus, and its use was still uncomfortable to wield properly. Ezra raised a brow at the confession of being an orphan except for this Vitruvion fellow, and they made a mental note to look into the man a bit more. Their new friend had let out a sigh about the man, and that did not usually bode well. Perhaps Vitruvion was not a good person? Ezra could not place why, but the idea of one being subservient to another seemed to leave a bitter taste in their mouth. With a quick reach, they grabbed one of the honey candies in the nearby basket and plopped it into their mouth. The sweet taste sent a shiver down their back, and their muscles seemed to relax and their stance became much less tense. The taste of honey had become something of a relaxant for the homunculus.

At the mention of the telepathic link with their employer, Ezra's eyes sparkled with excitement. "How very interesting! That is quite a powerful magic that your employer has. And with that link, he is aware of my... origins, for lack of better term. Well, that is most unfortunate. I prefer to have the discussion about such things in a more private setting, but it cannot be helped. I would only ask that he keeps it to himself. But an academic man, how curious. Is he well versed in alchemy? Perhaps he could explain a little more of my background at some point in the future. But, I doubt you are interested in talking about such boring topics like work. Your diet does surprise me, as certain species of birds are incapable of digesting certain foods so the fact that you seem to be able to eat like a human is quite odd. Odd, but fascinating."

They shifted their gaze to the ceiling for a moment, then around the room. Once they had done a full glance, they locked eyes with Stare once again and let out a faint laugh.

"...I will admit I am still learning how to commence in 'small talk' so I have little experience in coming up with topics to discuss."