"Oh, that starts tomorrow," he said, smiling broadly for quite the first time today. "I wouldn't deprive you of the marvelous crop of Howlers that's sure to turn up after the feast - that turns up every year, really, after the first day. I hope you don't mind if I listen in on a few. There are some that are reliably amusing." He threatened her bishop with a pawn, trying to force her to engage. "But you won't need to send anything off to the board." As satisfying as it might be to shove that off onto someone else. He'd learned to cope with that sort, by now. Traditional, old, ornery ... it was a set he was familiar with.