Cyrus gives Stephen a good-natured wince-- You caught me. "Apologies. It was work. A matter of enforcement. Something came up this evening that... needed my personal attention."
He hopes this communicates both how important the problem was, and that it's not something he's ready to discuss here. Really, it's not the kind of thing he'd ever discuss with Stephen anyway - Stephen doesn't need to hear about conspiracies and rebellion and sedition. Not at his own party.
"But, hey-- I made it." He steps in to put an arm around Stephen's shoulders, friendly and reassuring. "So you can stop glaring at me. I'm not leaving." He raises his dish in Stephen's direction, the one he took from the Avox-table, as if to say, See? I'm installed.
"This is fantastic, by the way," he adds, with a gesture that encompasses the room. "Seriously. You really outdid yourself." Flattery has, in the past, been the quickest road to forgiveness with Stephen, and he's willing to downplay his own role in the planning for the moment if it means Stephen will give him a real smile.
no subject
He hopes this communicates both how important the problem was, and that it's not something he's ready to discuss here. Really, it's not the kind of thing he'd ever discuss with Stephen anyway - Stephen doesn't need to hear about conspiracies and rebellion and sedition. Not at his own party.
"But, hey-- I made it." He steps in to put an arm around Stephen's shoulders, friendly and reassuring. "So you can stop glaring at me. I'm not leaving." He raises his dish in Stephen's direction, the one he took from the Avox-table, as if to say, See? I'm installed.
"This is fantastic, by the way," he adds, with a gesture that encompasses the room. "Seriously. You really outdid yourself." Flattery has, in the past, been the quickest road to forgiveness with Stephen, and he's willing to downplay his own role in the planning for the moment if it means Stephen will give him a real smile.