'Chelle laughs. "Ina swears she's allergic to monogamy."

"No, I said that I thought monogamy was restrictive."

"Hey, a very reasonable opinion!"

"As long you two are happy?"

Internally, he reacts like these words when spoken have the power to smite them on the spot.

Externally he just holds his face.

"Does anyone want a tea refill?"

"Please," Aaren says - does he seem at all concerned about Inara's declaration? No he does not.

Padrikiun will accept some too. Wondering what kind of situation his sister got in to and how to protect her from it.

Tea sounds like a wonderful distraction! "Thanks, you family has really amazing tea. And food in general. Not that yours isn't great Mr. Rydel. The food. I mean, maybe your tea too."

She will just drink her tea.

"Thank you!"

"Please," Aaren smiles at Ima. "Just 'Aaren' is fine. And this tea is truly exceptional, I would love to know where it was sourced from?"

Felix answers him. "It's mostly this good because our cook got fantastic at making tea blends. It's pretty much the only indulgence our grandparents enjoy by themselves."

"I suppose I will have to experiment myself and see if I can replicate it," Aaren muses.

"Like you weren't looking for your next cooking project anyway. Is tea even cooking? Steeping project?"

"The fine art of hot leaf juice?"

"-Could you make it sound any less appealing?"

"Maybe? But the important thing is that it sounds like you haven't watched Avatar the Last Airbender and that sounds something to be fixed."

"Is that an offer?"

"Do you want it to be?"

"I certainly wouldn't object," Inara says coyly.

"Awesome."

"Gosh, who knew that promises of Earth media could be so effective," Felix says elbowing Fernando.

Ima-Aidala will be here quietly shipping this, until she remembers Inara's early comment about monogamy.