"Did you now?" He mused, seemingly a little surprised. He had swiftly categorised her as a spoiled brat, with little interest in much of anything beyond tedious socialising and pandering to her perceived superiors, before he'd taken her in. Perhaps it had been a erroneous judgement, and certainly it had been a swift and wide ranging one... But just for a moment he paused and considered her interests. It didn't last long, though, and he smiled with a vaguely appreciative nod that also served to pull his eyes away from her face and back to his meal, which he continued to work slowly through. "Well, it is worthy of your impression. That has been built up through three generations, and is perhaps the most mighty production facility this city has... Though some would disagree, admittedly." Indeed each of his rivals would say equally impressive things about their own factories, and some of them might even be right. Still, his pride was evident and well placed.<br/><br/>He continued to eat, but Zoey had found something she'd never had from him before; a topic of conversation that had him speaking more than orders, insults and brief comments. It was a rare thing but passion filled his voice and made him talk in a more rambling and chattery way than was suitable for his almost exclusively formal social life. "My Father, Gods rest him, first showed me that when I was but a lad, and I suppose it impressed me as mightily as it did you. I fiddled and tinkered through most of my formative years as a result. You know, my tutors *despised* me for lack of concentration. Understandable looking back, I cared little enough for their history or their foreign languages... However Science and Geometry..." He waved a fork to emphasise his enthusiasm, and to keep Zoey's attention while he chewed over a succulent piece of meat. "They were wonderful. I was... and still am when I get the time, I suppose... far more comfortable working with my hands than my mind. I would as soon by a tinker again than run the damn thing, but..." A small, slightly regretful shrug. Not that he didn't enjoy being one of the more influential businessmen in the city, and nor did he really find himself too busy not to indulge in his little side projects.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>