Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters end up in. Everything else belongs to someone else and that's the way of it.

A Business Dinner

The next day meant daycare for Daisy as they'd signed her up for Tuesdays and Thursdays. She wasn't thrilled to go, especially once she realized what was happening yet again, but she didn't cry when they dropped her off. Harry considered that a marked improvement over the last time as he didn't know what he'd have done had she had fallen apart on them again. But she'd been brave, and hopefully after a few good visits she'd understand that her time there was supposed to fun for her, and not meant as a punishment.

So not a bad day overall, considering how much worse it could have gone, and Friday was even better, with Harry actually managing to finish up early with a relatively work free weekend ahead of him. Barring some disaster, of course.

So of course disaster had to strike once he got home.

He'd just finished changing out of his suit and into a comfortable jumper and trousers, stomach grumbling in anticipation of the fish and chips Eggsy had promised him, when he heard the sound of a car pulling into the drive. Walking over to his window Harry observed an unfamiliar vehicle coming to a stop, his eyes narrowing as a man got out of said vehicle and strolled towards his front door with decided purpose in his stride. He wasn't expecting anyone, and it was rather late to be just dropping by.

Thankfully, since he had two civilians to worry about, Harry was pretty sure he knew who their visitor was even from that brief glimpse. Though even then…

It was a good thing, Harry acknowledged as he left his bedroom, since Daisy's presence in his home had meant decreasing the number of firearms and assorted weapons he'd kept stored around the house, which would be problematic if under attack. His enemies weren't the sort to play nice, after all, and there were rather an awful lot of them. So it was good that he recognized the man as a non-threat to the civilians in his home. The negative side was that he was all but positive that their visitor was Winston Addison the fourth, otherwise known as Bors, and Harry very much doubted the Kingsman had dropped in to say hello or borrow a cup of sugar.

He could hear the doorbell from the hallway, and had reached the top of the staircase when Eggsy came into view with Daisy perched on his hip, the boy looking up at him as he came into view.

"Ah, Harry…I'm getting a vibe that maybe it would be best if I didn't open the door."

"You're not wrong. But unfortunately he tends to start fires when he's bored. Or being ignored. Go ahead and open it, Eggsy." Harry added when Eggsy gave him a wide eyed look. "I know who it is. It's fine."

Eggsy stared at him for a moment and then set Daisy down, telling her to stay put before he headed for the door without her. Showing excellent instincts the boy glanced back once more at Harry as if to confirm that he was sure, and then opened the door when Harry nodded.

"Hello. Can I help ya?"

"You must be the boy living with Hart now. He's here, correct?"

"He is. Come on in. I'm Eggsy, by the way." And showing more manners than Addison was at the moment Eggsy moved off to the side and motioned for the other man to come in, which he did with a curt nod of acknowledgement, his gaze already arrowing across the room to Harry.

Addison was turning fifty seven in a little over a week, which Harry imagined was one of the many reasons the man had been in a foul mood all month. When you got to be middle aged, especially in their business, you tended to feel every stupid thing they'd done in your youth, on top of being shown up by all the young upstarts who thought they were invincible and always right. Well, he and Bors were too badass to be shown up yet, Harry thought with a small smile, but those days were coming.

And that was going to fucking suck.

"Hart."

"Addison."

Shaking the man's hand, Harry was about to ask what had brought him by when a small body slammed into his leg from behind, little arms wrapping around it. Twisting around a little and looking down, Harry saw that Daisy was clinging to him from behind, the little girl glancing up at him briefly, silently asking for answers. Obviously she had the sixth sense about the Gifted that Eggsy had.

"I'll get her." Coming over Eggsy knelt down to pick her up, Daisy resisting for a moment before allowing herself to be pull away and into Eggsy arms.

"Addison, this is my ward, Daisy. Daisy, this is Mr. Addison. He works at Kingsman as well."

Again Addison inclined his head but didn't speak, though Harry was willing to bet that had as much to do with the fact that the other man probably never interacted with children as it did Addison's bad mood.

Equally unsure how to behave, Daisy gave him a sorta wave before hiding her face against Eggsy's chest.

"My apologies for stopping by unannounced." Addison didn't sound the least bit sorry. "But there's something I wish to discuss with you. If we could retire to your office?"

"Actually, we were just about to sit down to dinner. It can't wait until tomorrow? During business hours."

Confusion written all over his face, Addison consulted his wristwatch for the time before giving Harry another puzzled look. "Why on earth would you be eating this early?"

"I have a small child, Addison. She's on her way to bed before eight."

"They go to bed that early?"

"Yes. They do."

"Tell ya what, ya haven't eaten much in the way of food today, have ya?" Eggsy drew their attention back over to him, the boy's hand lightly rubbing Daisy's back. "So how bout instead of ya harassing Harry about whatever's got your goat, ya come in, have some food, and see if that don't help your mood none. It won't keep well for him, and I don't know a Brit who'll say no ta fish and chips less they're one of those vegetarians. Which I'm guessing you ain't."

"I'm here on official Kingsman business."

"Yeah, and unless you're an idiot, which ya ain't if ya work for Harry, ya'd have said up front of it was an emergency or something. So it ain't. Now, Harry, take Daisy." And without waiting for Harry's agreement Eggsy handed her over, Harry taking her reflexively into his arms. "The three of ya head ta the table, I'll get another setting and bring the food out. Oh, and the cheese buns are on the table, help yourselves."

Apparently expecting them to obey without question Eggsy turned around and headed towards the kitchen without so much as a backward glance.

And fairly sure that this was going to end badly, Harry turned his attention back to Addison.

The Fire Gifted was not known for taking orders well, least of all from someone who wasn't actually ahead of him in the pecking order, so Harry reinforced Eggsy's command by telling Addison to follow him, leading the way towards his dining room.

The truth of the matter was that in all the years he'd known the other man, and neither of them probably wanted to count them, Harry had never seen the other man really enjoy food, much less life in general. The man ate, slept, and did his duties as a Kingsman. He didn't even have any hobbies that Harry was aware of aside from designing new ways to blow shit up. The man had no friends, was distant from his family, and while he was sure to be dreadful or at least silent and resentful company…Harry couldn't help but think that now that he was in charge of Kingsman, and therefore had the authority to order the older man around to some degree, that he should use that power for Bors' own good.

Whether either of them liked it or not.

They arrived as Eggsy was coming it with a plate carrying all the essentials, the boy setting everything up for Addison before heading back towards the kitchen to get the rest of the food. Harry saw that there was a bread basket already in place with the cheese buns, as promised, and beer already placed in front of three plates, and some sort of juice in Daisy's cup.

And realizing that there was something he needed to make clear before Eggsy got back, Harry turned to give Addison a look that made it clear he meant business. "Eggsy is not a servant here. This is his home. I'd advise you to treat him as a member of my family."

"I understand."

"You'll be seated there, on my other side." And trusting that the grown man could seat himself Harry walked around to the other side of the table to put Daisy in her own seat beside Mr. Fox, who'd already been placed in his usual meal time position.

Reaching over as soon as she was seated, Daisy took her stuffie's paw in hers, holding it tight while watching Addison warily.

Thankfully Eggsy came in then with a large tray Harry hadn't been aware that they had, taking from it a large basket of chips, a bowl of coleslaw, and a plate laden with the fried, incredibly fragrant and perfect battered fish.

In fact it all smelled so good Harry wasn't even embarrassed when his stomach growled a little.

"I was gonna plate it up before, but ya might as well just help yourselves, ya? And don't take all the chips on me."

The boy actual gave them a warning look as he left, like he suspected they'd eat them all on him before he got back with Daisy's dinner.

Since there were handy tongs set out to pick the food up with Harry decided as host to serve both him and Addison, taking his spot at the head of the table before asking for the other man's plate and how much of each he would like.

For a moment he hesitated, and then Addison asked for a single piece of fish, and small portions of coleslaw and chips. And one bun.

Trusting Eggsy's cooking abilities, as well as his own nose, Harry gave himself far more generous portions once he'd finished Addison's plate and handed it back over to him.

Coming back into the room Eggsy set down the already prepared plate in front of Daisy, the amount of ketchup on the fish cause for concern in Harry's opinion. It was something he'd already debated about with Eggsy, as Daisy tended to like a lot of the unhealthy stuff on her meals. And while Eggsy was willing to try and cut her back, Daisy was not shy about demanding more from her brother if he was too skimpy in her ketchup loving opinion.

Which was why Harry wasn't surprised when Daisy pointed at her chips. "Ketchup, Eggsy."

"No."

That did surprise him.

"Those are Gran Gran's chips. We do not put ANYTHING but vinegar and salt on them. Otherwise Gran Gran will roll in her grave. And I'll have ta box your ears as well. Them's Gran Gran's rules."

Eyes wide, Daisy stared at him in shock, mouth open in surprise.

Which Eggsy took advantage of by shoving one of the shoestring type chips into her mouth.

Chewing automatically, Daisy's face lit up with joy at what she was tasting, the girl eating the whole chip quickly before reaching for another to shove in her mouth, no ketchup needed, it seemed.

"Exactly." Nodding in satisfaction, Eggsy told the others to go ahead and start without him, he'd serve himself. "No ketchup on yours, neither."

Intrigued, Harry picked up one of his own chips to sample.

Oh god. Perfection. Greasy, salty, clog your arteries so you died the happiest of deaths perfection. They were as good as the ones served in that little city in Canada he'd visited a few times over the years. And now he didn't have to travel across the Atlantic to get them!

Following Daisy's lead Harry immediately followed up his first chip with another, trying to savor it even as he wanted to finish it so that he could move onto the next one.

Addison's sound of pleasant surprise had him glancing over to see Addison in the same boat as him, but the food took precedent and Harry's gaze quickly shifted over to the basket that still contained the unclaimed chips.

A knowing chuckle. "Ya gotta eat the rest as well. Try the fish, Harry."

Oh, right. Damn.

"Of course." Turning his attention to cutting up his own fish, Harry forked up a piece and put it into his mouth, humming in pleasure as his taste buds sang another tune, but one that was almost as good as the previous one.

"Eggsy…I am going to go into mourning when I no longer have you to feed me."

Face lighting up, Eggsy just beamed at him for a moment. "No worries. I'll make sure you stay well fed no matter what."

"And living here even after you get a job or decide to go back to school, it would help you save money." Harry pointed out in his most reasonable tone of voice because yes, he was shameless. And would possibly feel guilty about it later, but for now…let there be food. Lots and lots of food.

"Very true." Eggsy spoke solemnly, but there was a definite twinkle in his eyes before he turned his head to look in Addison's direction. "Mr. Addison, I hope you're enjoying it too."

Glancing over at the other man's plate, Harry's brows rose to see that most of it was gone already. Apparently the man was a fast eater when he had something he liked in front of him. Normally he just picked at things.

"It's…excellent. Thank you."

"Well feel free to help yourself to more. I made plenty."

"Thank you."

"More chips, Eggsy." Daisy tugged on Eggsy's shirt sleeve for emphasis.

Eggsy studied Daisy's plate for a moment. "Three more bites of fish and two of coleslaw. Then you can have more."

Lips scrunching up, the two siblings shared glances back and forth for several heartbeats before Daisy sighed and turned her attention to very grudgingly fork up the required food.

With a great deal more enthusiasm Harry turned his attention back to his own plate while Addison helped himself to seconds.

)

In the end they were all too stuffed for dessert, Harry waving off the offer when Eggsy brought it up. Good manners had him asking Addison if he was interested in having some ice cream, but Addison was in the same state as him and politely declined. Not even Daisy had room for dessert, though she looked longingly at the empty chip basket as she was lifted out of her seat, Eggsy grabbing Mr. Fox with his free hand to hand it over to her.

"I had a fox briefly when I was a boy. A real one." Addison stated completely out of the blue, addressing Daisy for the first time since they'd been introduced.

Eyes wide, Daisy stared at him while Eggsy asked what the fox's name had been.

His stiff demeanor suggesting he hadn't meant to say anything, Addison's voice was a tad embarrassed as he stated that he'd named the fox Tally.

"Where is Tally? Is he at your house?" Daisy wanted to know, interested enough to actually speak to Addison.

"No. I only had him for a little while before my father's dog discovered him and-"

"Chased him off." "Scared im away?" Harry and Eggsy's words somewhat meshed together as they jointly interrupted Addison. Rude, yes, but Harry was fairly sure he knew what had happened to Tally the fox, and had no wish for a traumatized ward.

"Ah, yes."

Daisy seemed to consider this, and then she held Mr. Fox out in Addison's direction. "Ya can pet my fox. He's magic."

"Oh, ah….thank you. There's no need. But it's…kind of you to offer. Daisy."

A small smile from Daisy was his reward. Followed by a good night when Eggsy told her to.

Addison's good night and thanks for the meal were gruff, but he said it.

Harry wished his ward good night as well with a barely concealed smile.

Then together Harry and Addison watched Eggsy carry her out, the boy calling over his shoulder for them to just leave everything where it was, as he'd get it later.

"Well then, shall we go to my office so that we can discuss whatever it was that brought you to my door?"

"Oh. Right. Yes."

Wisely keeping his amusement hidden, not to mention he completely understood how Eggsy's food had the ability to make one forget everything else, Harry motioned for Addison to follow him and then headed out of the dining room, absently wondering what he could do to thank Eggsy for so skillfully defusing Bors's temper. The man had been too busy stuffing his face to say much of anything over dinner, thankfully, and Harry was fairly sure that Eggsy's cooking would continue to have that effect on Bors, which meant that the coming meeting shouldn't be nearly as migraine inducing as it would have been. Or at least he was fairly sure his colleague was too ready to fall into a food coma to work up a good head of steam.

Lord knows he was more than ready to.

"So he comes from a long line of innkeepers."

Hmm, so the man had been paying attention to the conversation he and Eggsy had had about his Gran Gran, who was Eggsy's great grandmother. "For three generations on his maternal side. His grandfather was an only child, apparently, and wanted to be a pilot. The inn still stands though." He'd told Eggsy they'd have to visit sometime, which had earned him another beaming smile.

Silence for a couple moments.

"He's going to make you fat."

"That's a price I'm willing to pay."