"Yes, he is. It's surprising the numbers are this low, actually," he tells Nero, to Lan he says. "Well, in that case I will be proud in my better than impeccable manners."

"I mean, Aunt Ange does in fact take in some of the strays Dad finds. And she takes in more than he does without his help!"

Alain laughs. "What I'm hearing is 'Aaren doesn't actually run into situations where adopting people is the solution often enough'."

"Who is Aunt Ange?"

"My Dad's best friend, helped him out when I was a baby."

"Aunt Ange runs a...kind of commune, for runaways and strays who don't have anywhere else to go."

"Ah, that explains how I didn't find a much fuller house."

"Yeah. We should take you to her's sometime, she's got this massive country estate, it's pretty damn awesome."

"It still amuses me that you and your Dad somehow ended up hobnobbing with the landed gentry."

"I would like to point out that I'm not landed gentry."

"Purely because your parents are the landed gentry."

Percy pats Lan on the back. "If it helps, I would never have guessed that you are of such high pedigree."

"-did I just get insulted?" (He doesn't seem in the least bit offended by the possibility.)

"I like you, Percy."

"I like you too!" Percy says grinning.

"-I should probably offer you guys something to eat. And seeing as Aaren's so graciously filled the fridge..."

"Or I could order us all Chinese? The Chinese near here is really good."

"Now I am curious what sort of Chinese place is good enough to be an alternative Aaren's food."

Also, he kinda wants Aaren's food to stretch longer, because he cares.

That does in fact seem to be Lan's intentions as well. "You got a menu somewhere, Teo?"

"I wouldn't know where it-"

"I know where it is!" Alain says, and bounds off to fetch it.

Percy flashes Lan a smile.

"You know you don't have to do this, Lan?"

"What good is me having access to an obscene amount of money if I don't occasionally use it to indulge myself. Also 'Chelle was saying last night she fancied Chinese."

She hadn't been, but she plays along. "I love my Dad's cooking, but Chinese is not a form of cooking he has mastered."