It could be far worse. They could leave brightly coloured fairy... dust. Everywhere they're swarming over them.

Alistair gives a mournful sigh and shakes his head. "No, sadly I don't. Or not one you want to know about. The wild dogs who raised me didn't have much use for names. It was all about how you smell for them. It took me the longest time to figure out why people got offended whenever I greeted them."

Hmm, that hadn't come out quite right. Better move on fast before Alex could take advantage of that particular opening.

"I'm Alistair. Nice to be able to talk to you like a normal person."