'You'll have to rival me for the nailing, though I doubt we're the only ones in line,' he said, his voice in that moment turning to a slightly more bitter tone than was quite uncharacteristic for him. The tone disappeared from his voice as quickly as it had appeared however, and he quirked a smile at Adrian's reaction.
He wondered for a moment how truthful to be, but he was fairly sure Percy would hate it if he told the entire truth to Adrian. So he settled for another truth. 'Since I told him I'd resign in order to make him get over his million and one objections,' he said with a grin. 'And no, I'm not shitting you.' He laughed, rolling his eyes at Adrian's comments.
However, as much as he'd liked to stay laughing and joking, he needed to focus on why Adrian was here, and on the slight hope that he might be able to help his mother.
'The same kind of trouble you were in with Stephen,' he said with a sigh. 'Only, it's my mother he has this time around.'