He doesn't need to be told that offering help to one Hikaru Shinta is an exercise in patience, but he understands the machinations of the younger man's mind, at least where it concerns weakness and having no choice on the matter of hiding it from prying eyes.

So, here's Riley, wandering over to one table where an electric kettle is plugged for the sake of convenience -- his comrades didn't want him wandering around too much and to say that Lia and Aidan would know the very millisecond that he started to overextend himself again is a massive understatement.

"What's a little blood between old friends," he murmurs rather glibly, already going through the motions of fixing them both a pot of tea.