Jaune had been delivered to Professor Pink's door at Haven Academy by the twins and told to scroll them when he had finished. He took a deep breath, knocked, and a few seconds later the door was opened. "Come on in, Mr. Arc."

Professor Pink was a dapper man who was around five foot seven. His office seemed to consist mostly of books, filing cabinets, and architectural models. It managed to be cluttered without being untidy. At least Jaune had the sense that the man knew where everything was. There was a desk which clearly was an antique from the days of the kings. The rest of the furniture seemed rather more functional.

Jaune gave the professor the package and a covering letter from mother. The professor skimmed the letter, laughed, and said, "I wish most requests for assistance were as detailed as these. We will have to see, but I suspect that I will be mostly recommending what she says here. Still, that's politics for you. Easier to get the funds invested if I say the work needs doing."

He looked at Jaune, "Even if I did not know whose brother you were, I could have guessed. Pass on my best wishes to Amber when you see her. I may not agree with everything she says, but she has the right to say it and I can understand why she thinks that way."

The professor led Jaune to a table which unlike the rest of the furniture was clear of stacks. He then opened the package. It consisted of a mixture of photographs, maps, notes, and statistics. The professor laid them out and then turned to Jaune. "You know Kulsa well?" asked the Professor.

"I've been there about once a fortnight or so for the last twenty months with the LGDF. I've been round the human parts of the walls with the local chief and the Faunus parts with deputy chief Reynard."

"Good. I may have some questions for you. If you can provisionally answer then it will be helpful, but I would want those answers confirmed by a supplemental package."

The man started looking at the photographs. "It's Jesse Earl who's the local chief?"

"Yes."

"Thought so. His niece and two nephews are good natured people, even if they are a little inclined to regard the rules as guidelines." He seemed to find this amusing rather than reprehensible. Jaune rather suspected that the twins regarded the rules as challenges to be broken, but the man did not refer to them.

He looked at the photographs of the area around the walls. "Is that really a ten-mile forest free zone?"

"It is now. We had a Grimm attack after the Argus incident which meant that we needed to dust bomb the only forest area within the zone. The area is mainly farmland plus an exhausted mine or two."

"Ok. I suppose that I shouldn't be surprised that the walls in the best condition are those separating the Faunus quarter from the rest of town. Hadn't realised that they were pedestrian only. Is there any access from the Faunus to the human side other than the gates at ground level?"

"No. In theory one might be able to leap from one side to the other, but that would require a thirty-foot jump."

"Basically, only Amber and a few other hunters or huntresses."

"Yes."

The man nodded and then looked at the photographs of the road gates and the maps showing the roads around them.

"The gates are of course the weakest link. They were top of the range when first built, but the technology has moved on."

He looked again at the letter from mother and nodded. "Your mother used the cost of upgrading them to get through the ten-mile zone?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm. She says that the walls have not been tested by the Grimm since the expansion of the zone."

"The local radio and TV stations know that shocking news should only be released early in the morning. It normally allows the LGDF hunters to pick off Grimm in the daytime and the farmers and farmworkers have time to reach the gates."

The man went back to his desk and picked up an old file. "I see the shanty town outside the gates has vanished. How hard was that to achieve?"

"The population has declined, and the Faunus were able to move within the gates."

"What isn't your mother telling me in the letter which makes her so worried?"

Jaune looked at him and decided that mother would not object to him passing on Jasper and Debo's concern. "Kulsa is the nearest town to the road from Kurohari."

Pink went and looked at the map of Mistral on the wall. "Ok, no need to say more. Refugees would bring Grimm on their tail and would drive through the night. Let's hope for the best, but we need to plan for the worse."

"Sir." Jaune did not know whether he should continue on.

"I probably know what you are thinking, but best to spell it out to me in case its's some local problem."

"The rumours are the White Fang and the Branwen Tribe are working together. The humans in Kulsa are especially nervous about the White Fang."

"Ahhh, yes. Not an edifying part of our history and recent events have not helped."

He looked at the letter again, "Your mother hints at that and also says that the local economy is not in a good way. Right."

The man looked at the two road gates leading from the Faunus sector into the open land. He frowned, "Where are the evacuation centres?"

Jaune looked at the map and pointed them out. The man frowned. "I won't put this in writing yet but suggest to Chief Arc that she investigate the potential for repositioning the concentrations of stressed people so that the Grimm are attracted away from the gates. I know it may not be possible, but it could make the difference."

Jaune said, "Because of the traffic levels there aren't too many residential blocks near the gate roads."

"But no doubt they are cheaper so more people than we would like live in them."

"I will mention that to her."

"You are staying overnight?"

"Yes, in the airport hotel."

"No doubt your sisters will be taking you out on the town tonight."

"Yes, sir."

"I'll get them to give you a letter for your mother."

There was another twenty minutes of questions most of which Jaune could answer. Pink took notes and then said, "That's enough for the moment. Tell her that I will prioritise my visit and will try to fit in an initial visit one weekend during the term. I know you want to talk to me about something else."

The man led him into a small suite of rooms behind the office. There was a living room with a small kitchen attached. Pink looked at the time and said, "Some coffee?"

"Yes, please. White, no sugar, please."

In a few minutes they were seated with a coffee jug in front of them. Pink had even brought out some biscuits. He looked at Jaune and said, "I'm going to be honest with you, your situation is unusual. Still before we get started can you flare your aura for me."

Jaune stood up and made certain that he was well away from the furniture. He then did as the professor asked.

The man nodded. "Well, I was not expecting that. That was an unusually strong aura."

The man got up and grabbed a book from the bookcase and checked something. He frowned and then looked at Jaune. "Your sisters told me that there were five attempts at unlocking your aura during your first term at ACS."

"Yes. Headmaster Brown tried three times and dad – Nicholas Arc – twice."

"OK. It was unlocked by your sister Amber the day after the Argus incident. Were things particularly stressful at the time?"

"No. We had just finished the evening meal and she was telling me to make the best of things in the LGDF. My mother says that even though Amber did not seem to put much effort into it, she tends not to do things by halves and…. Well perhaps I was irritating her a little. I was feeling a little sorry for myself."

"Quite. I know what your mother means. Still, it is not something she ever practised here. OK, you weren't stressed at the time, but earlier in the day?"

"Nothing life threatening. Amber fought couple of alpha Grimm and burned down a forest, but I was perfectly safe. I was slightly bruised when team Blood drove me to the Kulsa LGDF headquarters."

"Oh, that was you. By the way you can tell your mother that Judge Blanche will be dropping his claim. We've watched the footage and the chain of evidence was unimpeachable. Being driven by Team Blood while no doubt interesting is unlikely to have been the trigger."

He paused, "Is it true that they call their car the General Lagune?"

"Yes, sir."

The man shook his head, "They don't strike me as naturally ironic personalities, but it's not as though they've ever had problems with the Faunus students or staff. Sorry, I'll get back to the point. It does not seem that anything which happened that day was stressful enough to unlock your aura."

He paused and seemed to be looking for the right words. "You've probably heard this before, but generally the unlocking of auras after repeated failures only happens in moments of extreme stress and even then they tend to be significantly weaker than normal. This is self-evidently not the case here."

He looked at the book again. "Umm. There is a phenomenon whereby people who have the aura on constantly have lower levels than people who only flare it occasionally. It's a problem for politicians and celebrities who fear assassination and kidnapping. Perhaps your aura has been underused and it is unusually high because of that. Still, if that were the case, I would have expected that there would have been other examples."

The man again looked thoughtful and looked at the ceiling.

"I'm going to be honest with you. There is no realistic chance of you being admitted to Haven this year. We already have a waiting list for the main places and that is despite taking the fewest mustangs in ten years. There are some discretionary places, but these are already provisionally allocated."

"Discretionary places?"

"Unusual circumstances. Generally, orphans who have been outside the combat school system, those who have been in the Badlands, students from Vacuo and Faunus. Two places are already allocated to two students from Vacuo. In any event, I would imagine that the selection board would want to be certain that your high aura is not just a blip and that it was still at the same level in six months' time."

"Perhaps next year?"

"Missing combat school is a problem. There will be gaps in your knowledge and while there are lessons for the mustangs, they tend to have greater practical knowledge. In addition, you will not know any of your fellow students, unless you are friends with some of your year at ACS."

He looked at Jaune who shook his head. "I lost contact with them when I dropped out. I resented them having the opportunity which I did not have, and they were embarrassed when they saw me."

"I understand. However, the system of team choosing at Haven basically allows students to choose their own teams or at least their partner. The intra-combat school fights and the Mistral Regionals means that students know each other well and identify who will be a good fit. A few pairs only team up after arriving. The pair from Vacuo will be in that category."

He sighed, "We do have one potential student who presents a problem in this regard. Still, she is a known quantity and everyone else will want her on their team. I'm not looking forward to comforting the person who gets jettisoned for her." The man looked far away for a moment.

"Jaune, I'm sorry to say this, I doubt that you will qualify for a discretionary place even the folloowing year. As I said, the places are targeted at disadvantaged students and a late unlocked aura is not traditionally seen as one. Your family connections won't help you with the selection board either. Amber put a lot of noses out of joint and the twins have not been the easiest of students. Their talent meant that there was no way that they could not be admitted, but some still feel that they are not entirely serious. Admittedly those people have not been in the field with them. I defend than as being work hard, play hard types. The deputy headmaster disagrees with me."

Jaune nodded. "My father and my brother-in-law…"

"True, but those opposed to your sister would say that we would be seen as playing favourites to select you over more obviously disadvantaged candidates."

"Could I be fast tracked through combat school?"

"Perhaps. Maybe two years. There are practical problems. If you were shorter and smaller generally it might be easier, but you are significantly larger than virtually all first-year students. Fighting with them would be problematic, but you would be untrained compared with the third- and fourth-year students. Besides which …"

Jaune wondered about the delay. "You were saying?"

"I may be being unfair to Headmaster Brown, but you will be a perpetual embarrassment to him. He failed to unlock your aura and people will think him incompetent at best when they see how large your aura is. He would not be human if he did not try to find reasons why he should not admit you. For example, it may be that the school rules state that first years must be between 14 and 16 when they start school."

Jaune began to protest "But my father failed to unlock my aura as well."

The professor shrugged, "By all means try."

Jaune thought about it. He recalled the look on Brown's face when he saw that Jaune had unlocked his aura. "My eldest sister lives in Argus. Maybe I could apply there?"

"Ah, Sanctum. Perhaps that would be a better option. At least the embarrassment factor would be less of an issue. The school rules would need to be checked. Argus tends to be a little more insistent on following the rules than some of the other provinces of Mistral."

A pause, "Jaune, only about twenty per cent of combat school graduates go to Haven or the other academies. Assuming you can get in, you will still be cramming four years training into two years and will be competing with students who have had two years more training than you. How academic are you and how much time will there be for practising your fighting?"

"How about becoming a mustang?"

"Most start working for the security companies at the sixteen or eighteen. Generally, they have had at least six years' experience in the field before they apply. That means that they are generally aged between twenty-two and twenty-six when they start at the academy and the first year is tough for them. Most arrive here after recommendations by hunters or huntresses who have seen them in action. Often they left combat school or never applied because financially they needed to earn money. Virtually all of them have identified a combat appropriate semblance which they have used to survive attacks by Grimm or bandits."

"Does anyone come from a LGDF background?"

The professor looked up and sighed, "One in the last twenty years. I checked last night. You may not like this, but your mother's too good at her job to make it likely that you will be the second."

"Excuse me." Jaune was shocked by this remark.

"I've looked at the casualty and injury statistics for Ansel. It's clear that she makes certain that the hunters take the brunt of the close fighting. She enforces the no cover recommendations around towns and large villages which means that normally the bullheads can be used for sniping at and dust strafing Grimm before they reach densely inhabited areas. It helps that so much of your province is farmland rather than woodland so that there aren't that many flying Grimm to contend with and that the ground allows cellars to be built under farms which hide the inhabitants from the Grimm. Perversely it also helps that things were so bad during the Faunus wars. The most vulnerable villages were deserted and have never been resettled, after the wars were over no-one argued about the need to build proper walls and to have no cover zones. There were twenty years of more or less honest administrators. Well at least ones who did not extract the urine when taking graft. The institutional memory allowed her to reset standards when she took over from her predecessor."

"And that's a problem?"

"Not for Ansel and Mistral. It is for you becoming a hunter. Besides which I suspect you spend a lot of time at headquarters or dealing with the locals on prevention matters."

"I often fire at Grimm from the bullheads. I've learnt how the hunters deal with the distinct types of Grimm. I notice what techniques work best and the importance of taking out the alphas or larger Grimm early on." He acknowledged the basic truth of what Pink was saying to himself. He had spent much of the last few weeks being a sort of estate agent and removals organiser.

Pink looked at him. "Park that thought for a minute. You won't deny that a qualified hunter should be in the front line against a Grimm attack on a settlement."

Jaune saw where the professor was going and said, "Of course, but most civilians don't have aura. I do."

"As a professor I escort students on training missions. In the first year I lead the missions and am expected to deal with any alphas which may appear. In the second year, fourth year students lead the missions. I advise and will intervene if there is any risk of serious fighting. I train the third and fourth years that there are times when you have to cut your losses and retreat. I also train them to protect the junior students and civilians from getting into harm's way."

Jaune nodded. This fitted in with what he saw Darren Marine and the other hunters doing.

"Despite their image this is something which Nancy and Jessica take very seriously. I also know which of our old students your mother likes to employ. Even if they did not know you and you were not their employer's son, they would not let you run risks which could get you killed. You'll have seen them working in that way with the interns from Haven."

Remnant, the man had a point. It was work experience under careful supervision.

The man paused, "No doubt they will take account of the fact that you have aura to get you more involved in missions. Certainly, evacuating the civilians from farms while they deal with the Grimm, and they will be grateful that you free up one more of them to fight. They are not going to leave you in a position where you will need to be a hero."

"So, what is different about those who go the mustang route?"

"They work guarding the logging camps, mines, and convoys against bandits and Grimm attacks. They are concentrated in the forests to the east and north especially Argus province. They also hail from near the Badlands. Oddly not so much because of fighting the Branwen tribe but the bandits who are running away from the tribe and the Grimm attracted by those who fear that they will be the next target of the tribe. Some people repeat scurrilous rumours that they also tend to be concentrated in areas where the LGDF is ineffective or corrupt."

Jaune recognised the evasion. This was Mistral speak for saying that the rumours were true, but it was impolite to say so.

"How many mustangs a year are there at Haven?"

"Normally between eight and six. Next year I expect there will be four. There tend to be more at Beacon, Atlas, and Shade. I don't know the percentage of eligible personnel who become mustangs, but I would be surprised if it was more than about three per cent and probably more like one."

The man looked as though he was about to say something more and thought better of it. Instead, he paused and then said, "I have no doubt that your sisters know a few mustangs. Why don't you ask them to introduce you this evening? That will allow you to get a more informed view than mine."

While they talked for another ten minutes about details, they had discussed the important topics and soon Jaune was scrolling his sisters.

Professor Pink led him back to the great hall. While he waited for the twins, Jaune stared at the statue. He still could not work out its connection to being a hunter or huntress.

The twins dragged him off to the dorm and he discussed the meeting with them. The twins seemed to believe that Pink had been honest about things and after thinking about it called up two friends who were mustangs to meet up with them that evening.

When he discussed the age restrictions issue for going to combat school, Jessica took a deep intake of breath. "Jaune, I think old Pink may be on to something."

Nancy looked at her twin in mild disbelief, "You are not telling me that you read the constitution of the old alma mater?"

"You remember Turquoise Williams?"

"Was he the one who had glandular fever?"

"That's right. They enrolled him in summer term of the year below us even though he hardly attended any classes that year because otherwise he might have not been able to attend."

"That rings a bell. Didn't know the reason at the time."

"Wasn't that interested in it myself otherwise I would have told you."

"You probably did but I didn't take it in at the time. Perhaps you were told it at a party while I was snogging someone."

Jaune had learnt by now not to react to his sisters boasting about what they got up to at parties. He didn't want to know about the details but making it obvious that was how he felt, only encouraged them.

Jessica said, "But hey this is Mistral. There's normally a power allowing the grande fromages to waive the rules."

"Perhaps, but can you imagine mother wanting to rely on that and owe favours to people."

"Good point."

Jaune parked that thought for further consideration. This was Debo's type of issue. He knew that occasionally mother did not mind being owed favours, but normally it was for doing what she would have done anyway.

He had learnt from past experience not to go drinking with the twins on an empty stomach. In addition, the twins did not want to face the wrath of mother for delivering him back too obviously the worse for wear. Therefore, an early meal was taken, and a pint of milk was consumed by him before they set out to meet the mustangs.

They went to a bar called the Black Widow. Nancy explained that it was close to his hotel, served good wine and as the Spider gang controlled it there was unlikely to be any trouble.

Jaune must have looked confused as Jessica said, "Look I know it sounds stupid, but there are advantages to crime being organised. Only someone with a death wish goes after the Divine Miss M. A gang did so just before we arrived here, and they still haven't found all the body parts of the gang leader and his tame judge."

Nancy said, "We are also still gossip column worthy until we graduate. With luck they'll comp us the first bottle of bolly."

Jessica said, "I don't think the Invincible Girl and Arslan Altan are party goers. Perhaps we can carry on freeloading for a bit longer."

Nancy said, "Feel sorry for Lav. She's going to have rebel against both us and Amber."

"Maybe she can do cooking recipes on YouScroll."

Nancy looked at him, "Look we're only joking. She's a sweet kid."

Jessica said, "Probably the most like Saffy in the family. Remnant, looking back I feel sorry for her, you and Lily having had to put up with us, Debo, and Amber as big sisters."

Jaune protested, "Debo was always kind."

Nancy laughed, "Debo is mother on steroids. Never get into an argument with either of them."

Jessica said, "According to Saffy, Debo is the immovable object. Doesn't fight often, but when she did then she never surrendered."

"Jasper never stood a chance when she decided that he was the one."

Jaune was relieved when the two Mustang turned up. One was a Rhinoceros Faunus and the other was a human. Both were mid to late twenties. Nancy reassured them that she and Jessica were paying. After the third bottle between the five of them Nancy asked for their advice in relation to Jaune's situation.

The two Mustangs exchanged glances and laughed. The Faunus said, "I'm going to say something later which you should listen to but as you're an Arc you won't. First I'll tell you my story."

Nancy refilled his glass. "Mustard, Jaune is a thoroughly pleasant young man. He may even listen to good advice."

Mustard shrugged. "I'm here because the last security firm I worked for took on the jobs no one else would do. I worked in East Argus apart from a year in Vacuo with Jules here."

The human raised his hand. "I like Vacuoans, but the kingdom is best avoided. The wildlife is almost as dangerous as the Grimm and the sandstorms and quicksand are worse than both. Anyway, Mistralians aren't welcome in Vacuo anymore unless your last name is Vassilias or you are a Faunus. Sandy was right to get out when he did, though."

Nancy said, "Come on Mustard, tell us your story."

Mustard said, "There's an awful lot of forests in East Argus. Prime timber but perfect cover for Grimm. There were some strikes six years ago in the logging camps and the bad vibes just attracted the Grimm. The head of the LGDF out there is an honest man but a bit of a bean counter."

"Still better than 75% of the LGDF supremos." This was from Jules. He blushed, "Look. You know your mother is the best of the bunch, but honesty does count for something. He's also fair."

Sandy Mustard said, "Look, others might have fought harder to get the superiors to fund an increase in the allocations, but most of them would have stolen the extra funds. He just decided that it was not practical to defend the farms and raised the charges on them to reflect the added cost of providing support for them over the average cost per square mile. He honestly expected them to look at the figures and take the compensation monies for evacuating."

Jules said, "He is a city boy whose parents came from Mantle to seek a better life. Doesn't understand Mistralian farmers. Sandy is being too generous. He should have learnt how they thought by then."

Sandy shrugged, "When they did refuse to pay the amount demanded by the Argus LGDF and hired my lot, he did give my boss his private line. He said that he would evacuate us and the farmers when we came to our senses."

Jules nodded, "Ok, less of a bastard than I thought. Did he come through?"

"He's Argus City. He did his best, but he underestimated the obstinacy of the farmers and the greed of my boss."

He looked at Nancy and Jessica, but they looked equally as taken aback as him.

Nancy said, "What happened? I have a sister and sister-in-law in Argus, so you don't have to explain that they live in a different world there."

"Our boss quoted 70% of the price asked for by the LGDF. He expected to make a 15% profit on that. Basically, he was promising to deliver at 60% of the costs of the LGDF."

Jessica signalled for another bottle and held Sandy's hand. She sensed what was coming.

Sandy continued, "It wasn't until three months into the contract that my boss realised that Chief Flax had not been trying to rip the farmers off. Normally he could undercut the LGDF and make a profit. He knew not to bother in Ansel because he knew where your mother was coming from, but he did not understand Flax."

"The flattery is noted and is not taken for granted." Nancy was clearly flirting.

"He cut back the numbers of operatives and reassigned sixteen-year-olds to the contract. Frack, I was soon the person in charge on the ground."

Nancy asked, "What happened?"

"One of the farming cooperatives called in an emergency. We landed and within ten minutes I had sent out a call to Flax and sent my resignation to my boss. Sixty per cent of the civilians and all but one of my crew died before the LGDF got there. I discovered that I have an iron skin semblance that day."

He took a large swig of champagne at that point and composed himself. "Flax recommended me to Haven the day afterwards. One of the surviving farmers had filmed me to distract himself from the thought that he was going to die. Flax took me with him to the other farms to tell my story and convince them that they should leave. I also passed on the message that my boss would not be renewing the contract."

The Rhinoceros Faunus looked into the distance at that point. "All but one of the farming cooperatives saw sense at that point. I remember Flax arguing with the leader of the group by the name of Bartleby. The man said that he had a nephew at Haven and that if he lasted another year the young man could deal with the Grimm himself."

Everyone around the Table gasped at this.

"I couldn't stand listening to the idiot any longer and went for a walk. I knew the place quite well and it was the most efficient of the farms in that area. They were also more relaxed with Faunus. They all claimed that their ancestors were refugees from a political purge in Vale from before the great war. There was this young girl who carried around a flimsy umbrella which was too big for her. She had a knack of tilting her head and smiling at you when she was amused. I remember waving at her that day and her smiling back."

Jessica said, "I didn't know."

The Faunus shrugged, "Me and Flax had one last go and the idiot talked about capturing a couple of Apathy to dampen down the emotions at the farm. We both assumed the man was raving but it turned out that he had meant it for real. It ended as badly as you would expect."

Jules said, "At least Flax delivered for you."

He turned to Jaune. "I'm afraid most of us mustangs have a similar story about what got us in to Haven. I was escorting a dust convoy in Vacuo when we were attacked by Grimm. The civilian in charge left it five minutes too late to call for support from the military. I saved the lives of the civilians I was immediately responsible for and when the scandals broke, Major Magenta and Professor Theodore recommended me to Lionheart."

Sandy said, "Look, young Jaune. I know that if you are like your sisters you will not want to hear this. Bluntly you can do more good for Mistral and have a happier life by staying with the LGDF than trying to go the mustang route. Frack, actually unless you have an exceptional semblance you will save more lives and do more good in Remnant by being a competent and honest LGDF operative than by being a security operative."

Jules said, "I was lucky that I only dealt with convoy work in Vacuo and mostly worked for Vassilias Transport. Let's say that I'm not shedding any tears for those assholes from Atlas Gold who fell out of a plane last month."

Nancy said, "I thought Vassilias Transport weren't impacted by the scandals."

"Too many of my friends worked for the SDC and Atlas Gold for me not to tarred by the same brush. It was best for me to go. Besides which I told what I knew to the young Atlas Lieutenant with the dog tail and his keeper with the cat ears when they came investigating."

Jessica signalled at him that he was not to repeat what Jules had said. He realised that both mustangs were drunker than they were used to and were revisiting memories they preferred not to deal with.

An hour or so later the twins packed the mustangs off in a taxi and walked Jaune back to his hotel while singing "We are poor little Grimm who have lost their way." Nancy had reverted to calling him Joannie, although he noticed that she had waited until Jules and Sandy had been despatched back to Haven before doing so.

Jessica said, "I wonder who the youngster at Haven was?"

Nancy said, "Think he must have dropped out."

Jessica said, "Oh, do you think it was him?"

"Well, his team missed him. They talked about the farmer boy who left after the people back home died. The rumour was that he went and worked for the Spiders."

When he got into the hotel, he was surprised to find a letter to mother from Professor Pink waiting for him. A covering note said that the Professor had thought it safer to send the letter to the hotel. Jaune could not deny the truth in that even as the twins signed autographs for the concierge and some patrons in the bar.

I have read Roman Holiday, but I prefer to run with the photographic hint in Volume 6 about Roman and Neo coming from Brunswick Farms. It gives a reason for Roman for being as an effective fighter as he is and a reason for him to be cynical and flamboyant. As far as drinking is concerned, let's just say that Mistral is not big on enforcing drinking laws in mob clubs and bars and that licensing laws probably follow the UK ones with 18 being the legal age.

On rereading, I am not sure that it is as clear as I intended that Pink deliberately does not directly follow up on the hold that thought comment, but instead suggests that the twins introduce him to some mustangs. I would be interested in feedback as to whether that jarred or was obvious.