Renard breathed; "but honestly, there's really no need for any of us to be so incredibly uptight and tense about everything, people! C'mon now! We've mostly all known one another for many centuries at this point; aren't we… well, you know… something close to frien—"
"No!"
Everyone present—except for Titania who actually was in approval—in the grand hall managed to mutter their disapproval almost at the exact same moment.
Their eyes were already visibly bored and weary of the overly sentimental direction the conversation seemed to be heading.
"Haha! At least you all agree on something for once. I guess that counts as progress, right?" Renard laughed heartily, his voice echoing lightly through the living ironwood hall as genuine amusement sparkled in his bright blue eyes.
Then, after carefully cleaning away the small tears of laughter that had gathered at the corners of his eyes, he straightened up in his seat and started speaking again with renewed energy.
