I will pay the bill, you taste the wine

ISLA

"Is that so?" Isla drawls, taking Remi's stubborn defiance and responding with dry sass - as is her right as his best friend. "I will ask Everest to build me a suggestion box, maybe. You can post all of your complaints about my friendship into it - and then whenever I turn out to be right about something, I'll read one to you to see if you think it still fits." And so she can rub it in his face about how inconsiderate he'd been to write it in the first place, obviously.

To see Carlo bend control over his father with little more than a well-timed squeal of outrage is a delight to witness, one that Isla desperately tries to keep out of her expression, but as he yields the star bell to the baby's waiting hands and greedy maw, she lets a soft laugh slip by. "You are too kind. I'll make sure to tell you well in advance, though - I doubt Ever would have it any other way."

Shivering at a sudden gust of cool wind off the sea, the Remedy takes a step closer to Remi's side as if he might act as a windbreaker. "The portals were an asset," she agrees. "Even if we were to set one up between Torchline and Halo though, it isn't as though I would be able to go to any playdates up there without turning into a very fetching sculpture. Fern and Ever could go though, at least."

apres moi le deluge
after me comes the flood