Jack wasn't going to respond to Ariel's assertion that he had not had any allies in the Ministry. How many times had she turned a small blind eye to his goings-on with his pack? She had not had much to ignore, sure, but as the regulations on werewolves had tightened and gotten more and more strict, Jack had been careful to make sure Ariel, nor his pack, had been brought in to suffer the stupid questions and interviews that the wolves and vampires had suffered through. She knew that if she responded, she would respond with indignation, and he would wonder why she cared what he thought and... she did not want to have that conversation. It was an exhausted topic that did not need discussion.
So... whatever, Ariel.
Sunny was not her kid, per se, but there were times that Jack felt very much the parent and she thought - it was just a thought, mind - that maybe she did not mind this whole kid thing. She had never had much of an interesting getting herself a family because the only one she had ever had was not the sort of family she would want to have two of. There had also always been the cynical view that a family just meant more people to hurt and lose. But Sunny had been the first to teach how the rewards outweighed all the risks. Charlie and Max had become arguments in support of this view, as Jack found herself more and more thankful for them every passing day.
"She's probably the coolest person that has ever existed," Jack said, shrugging. "I think she knows it too. She acts like she could rule the world... I think I'd give her a go, though, if I could. She's a brilliant little bugger."
The marriage law. Ah, how to explain the nonsense. "Since you've been gone, I'd plead ignorance. Don't sign up until they find you and then it's their fault for not finding you. And when they do, if you can convince them that you're not here permanently, then you can get out of it. The only other way to get out of being randomly paired is to pair yourself. So, if ever, now's the time to commit." The joke was weak, and felt out of place. Joking about any potential girlfriends he had just did not seem right, for some reason. (Yeah, some reason.) "We're working on turning this around as soon as possible."
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