[[Apologies for the delay! BSky apparently decided I did not need paltry nonsense like notifications.....]]

[Another amused huff]

What fine figure I made, drenched to the skin and shivering and you, howling in delight at the sight of it. The very peak of respectability.

[He shakes his head, though fondness makes the gesture an amused *Oh you* rather than a disparaging dismissal]

Whatever would we do without you and [the same mumble, and a faint flicker of a smile - albeit one that fades when he remembers what they were originally talking about]

... quod erat demonstrandum. How very -droll-.

[the almost-laugh is much more genuine this time]

My apologies; I did not mean to cast aspersions upon the ever-meticulous work of the Architect.

[he sighs, pinching his brow]

Will "Yes" suffice as an answer, or simply invite more asinine questions?

[absolutely not; likewise, the little huff Emet gives in response is definitely purely amused, and not at all tired and grief-laden]

No doubt you'd approve such a concept based on punnage alone.

can free up time in mine to accommodate her.

You and Titus' boy should compare notes.

[His tone is too theatrically dismissive to read as genuinely uncaring, but he's spent too long terrorising this bloodline to simply resume the role of loving patriarch now]

If she has time in her schedule for such vagaries as a social visit I'm sure I (+)

The proliferation of such debased and degraded concepts is hardly a glowing indictment of your age, Hero.

I imagine one needs more than a rudimentary grasp of creation magic to understand why "bird with a man's face" is quite so distressing.

What a fun familial bonding experience that must have been.... Your son deserves points for dramatic flare, if nothing else, I suppose. Still, I'll take it that under advisement, should an Eikonic opportunity ever present itself.

[the sardonic smirk wavers a little]

... you believe so, do you?

A feat all the more impressive given how carefully we'd scripted its inevitable demise.

[this huff, though? This one's dismissive, disparaging; the mask of the capering jester slides back into place]

If she's heard whispers, then they're not from me.

[a small huff; he does not, as a rule, stoop to anything as base as sounding -impressed-, especially not with family, but one might be forgiven for thinking he's just made an exception. Then again, he always was fond of that plant]

I'm sure many would rather she'd left it to freeze.

[Truly, Lucius always was the best of them]

Sounds as if you've landed on your feet with that one. [he stretches, glancing about] And it -is- pleasant to see the greenhouses endure.

[Varis would no doubt recall the botanical gardens in their prime, and the Dalamascan morbol they once housed]

[he smiles - faint and fleeting, but an actual smile for once, rather than a mocking smirk]

There is, it seems, a first time for everything. I'm sure your father would be thrilled.

[and then it's gone, and he's inspecting his nails]

So is it cooking or gardening that occupies your time now?