Cassidy lowered his brow. "Nooo," he assured her, drawing the word out to (hopefully) drive it home. "Truth be told, I don't hate it either. It mighta been touch-and-go for a coupla weeks, there, but if I were gonna hate the place, they'd have to do worse than that."

It helped that there had been no significant consequences handed down from on high over the mess with He Ming. Either the fairies hadn't found out, or they didn't care. Since the presence of the favored was supposed to be all about their 'entertainment,' Cassidy was betting on the latter.

"I mean —" he gestured toward the music dock, "— we've got tunes, rent-free livin', and all the basic food groups."

At food groups, he held up his cup of wine and reached for the bag of cocaine.

"It's not so bad after all."