"Keep an eye on 'Chelle. She cheats when she's dealing."

Chuckle. "I will try not to let her get away with."

"Please do, she gets so smug when she gets away with it."

There's the sound of the other two coming back down the stairs.

"Bed's clear," 'Chelle says, sticking her head into the kitchen, "and Lan's donated some pyjamas to the cause."

"Thank you. Thank you all, this is all very generous and I can only hope to repay you in kind."

Generosity, not close, but a fairly good gratitude substitute. He should've thought about it sooner.

"No need," Lan says warmly. "We're glad to help."

"We're going to play poker," Aaren says, producing a pack of cards from one of the drawers. "You two in?"

"Ask a stupid question, Dad," 'Chelle says, pulling one of the chairs at the table out and sitting down.

Percy sits and pays attention to card dealing. He will experimentally interrupt a cheating attempt once and pay attention to the table's emotional reactions.

'Chelle laughs, and reaches over to poke his side playfully. "Stoppit," she doesn't sound too serious. "Girl's gotta give herself some advantages."

"'Chelle, you keep telling me I have the worst poker face you've ever seen, why do you need to cheat?" Lan is clearly amused.

Aaren is smiling fondly at them all, and there's a feeling of paternal warmth. (With a brief spike of something else, regret? But that's only for a moment.)

"Well, with me around she might need to cheat. My poker face is excellent."

He flashes Aaren a reassuring smile, it sounds like the appropriate response.

Aaren smiles back. "That she will."

"I'll find your tell eventually," 'Chelle says certainly.

Percy smiles at her then drops into a perfectly neutral expression. He keeps it for half-a-minute, but his emoting produces no obvious tells.

She narrows her eyes slightly. "We'll see," she says, her tone bordering on ominous, but in a somehow playful manner.

Percy continues being a very attentive player.

It's a warm atmosphere, plenty of laughter and good-natured bickering.

Eventually though, Lan gets interrupted midsentence by a jaw splitting yawn.

Apparently sleep is stronger than Percy's attempts at interesting plays. He yawns too.

"Tapping out already?"

('Chelle is, under her cheer, obviously tired as well.)

"I think it's time everyone was in bed. And yes, that includes you as well, Sparky. I don't care if you don't feel tired, lying down helps you and you know it."

"I am just very vulnerable to yawns," Percy says not yawning at mention of yawns like some people do. "But sleep is good, yes."