Even though more people had turned up now Charlie had mostly stayed on door duty. He'd stepped away to put some filled puff-pastry nibble thing his parents had turned up with into his mouth and opened the door with the other half still in hand. He waved as he chewed rapidly and swallowed. He knew better than to speak with his mouth full in the same house as his mother. "Hey, Teddy," he said as he finally managed to speak, closing the door behind the two of them. "Tables are this way," he said.
"Glad you're in the country for this one," he said. "You have to tell me about what you've been up to though." He was nothing if not eager to hear ongoing developments in the creature communities, even if Teddy wasn't a dragon specialist it was always good, if not a little wistful, to hear about goings on.