"It's not as uncommon as you might think," he said while wearing a wry smile, "for me to not appear at dinner. Ah, but they must be hoping that I'll drag some manners together and take you, since it's the proper thing to do."

Frankly, he'd much rather stay in the forests with Laurent, riding and showing him all the little nooks and crannies.

"My mother will want to see you." He brushed a hand against the side of Laurent's head, taking delight in the way that arm felt hanging about his waist. "To ask you if you find me too deplorable to marry, and if not, when she can set a wedding date." Not that his mother told him such. Gansey knew her quite well and expected something along those lines to take place.

"But another night, I'd like to take you into town. Really, they do have the most interesting foods on the street."