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Letting out a gleeful sound, Laial hopped from foot to foot, smiling so hard his little grey face ached. "I'm glad!" he mumbled, holding still after a moment, sheepishly. "I was worried he'd say no..." He eyed Evan's back. "He's not that bad I guess," he tossed off airily.

For his part, Evan swallowed that snippet of encouragement like it was manna from heaven, and smiled, finishing up the last bits of the batter in the bowl.

"Okay~" Laial scampered to the dining room, trailing a couple of bubbles from his still-soapy tentacles, moving as fast as his shell would let him. He sat down in the chair Evan had procured especially for him -- it had a soft sling bottom so he could sit comfortably in his shell on it.

After a few moments, Evan slid the last pancake onto the plate, and humming, half-waltzed into the dining room, with the stack wobbling precariously but not falling over. "Dinnertime~"

"No need to stand on ceremony," Evan said comfortably, forking a large stack of pancakes onto his own plate and drowning them in thick maple syrup, smiling, then did the same for Laial, who sighed at being treated like a child.

"Can I save some and give them to Heiko?" Laial asked, picking up his knife and fork, his legs tucked into his shell in a rather comfortable manner. "She would like them... please?" There was a saccharine tone to his voice.

"I suppose that would be okay... so long as she doesn't eat my goldfish," Evan murmured companionably, shrugging. "So, sir... I hope dinner will be to your liking. I'm not a terribly good cook, but it's pretty hard to ruin pancakes..."

"Can I call you Kay too?" Laial piped up with a smirk around a mouthful of pancake.

"Laial!" Evan protested, slapping his own forehead with a heavy sigh.

"Of course I'll respect you," said Laial with the air of someone long-suffering, as if it was foolish for Kay to even think he'd disrespect him, rolling his strange grey eyes.

"You might want to start now, by not rolling your eyes...?"

"Bah." Laial took a big mouthful so he couldn't be obliged to apologize.

"Only a few months, really," Evan replied, with a smile, licking syrup from his lips. "I didn't like the thought of kids being without someone to take care of them..."

"I can take care of myself," interrupted Laial with a pout.

"Well... be that as it may, I like having you here, Laial," Evan said gently. "I'll try to stay out of your way..." He adopted a gentle, calm demeanor.

"Really? I bet you'll be a good father, too," Evan said, softly, smiling at Kay as he cut his pancakes. "You seem like you've got your act together much more than I do..."

"I haven't been any more put together than I am now since I was a kid," he said sheepishly. "I try, though. You kind of have to learn when you have someone relying on you, huh?"