His Father's Son

Chapter 4

"Good morning, Master Harry."

Harry blinked blearily at the unfamiliar ceiling. His mind was still hazy with sleep, and it took him a while to remember where he was.

"Good morning, Jarvis," he muttered, "Good morning, James," he added, as his AI settled next to him.

"Good morning, young master," James greeted. "Breakfast is already prepared. Jarvis was kind enough to arrange for everything."

"It was my pleasure," Jarvis assured. "There is a bathroom down the floor, Master Harry, if you like to freshen up.

"Thanks," Harry stretched and looked around the living room still littered with Chinese food. "Where is Tony?"

"On his phone, Master Harry. He will join you at the table."

"Okay," Harry agreed readily. "I'll go and clean up, then."

"Argh, I've a headache," Tony grumbled as he fell on the kitchen chair and buried his head in his hands.

"Too much brandy?" Harry inquired amicably and pushed a cup of coffee towards his newly discovered father.

Tony glanced through the gap between his fingers. "Yeah, thanks, Chopstick-Merlin."

Harry snorted. "Chopstick-Merlin, really?"

"You can summon brandy with a chopstick," Tony replied flatly and took a deep sip of his coffee. "Ahh," he sighed. "Much better. Hand me the jelly, will you?"

"Strawberry or Raspberry?"

Tony narrowed his eyes. "Ah, it's the same hard decision every morning," he complained.

"Well," Harry commented, "you cut your roll in two halves, right? Take both."

Tony stilled. "I have two halves," he repeated slowly, as if the realization had just hit him. "Two halves. I don't need to decide at all!" He grinned. "Harry, you are a genius! Jarvis, my son is a genius!"

"Indeed," Jarvis agreed. He sounded strangely unimpressed.

A wall panel slid down, and Harry watched as James floated over to connect himself to the USB hub.

Harry stopped in the middle of buttering his roll and stared at his AI. "What are they doing?"

Tony turned around, and a wry expression appeared on his face. "Who knows? Maybe they are posting on each other's personal blog."

"Jarvis has a blog?" Harry asked curiously.

"Indeed, I have, Master Harry," Jarvis agreed, "I admit I am quite fond of writing limericks."

"I own one, too, young master," James added, "I recently posted about the building structures of British castles."

"A very interesting article, indeed," Jarvis complimented.

"Thank you. I rather enjoyed your latest poem about well-connected circuits. "

Harry exchanged a flat look with Tony. "Let's pretend we didn't hear that."

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked. "The muffins were so warm, I couldn't hear anything."

Harry nodded seriously. "I know what you mean."

"I need to call the IGC," Harry remarked after they had successfully ignored their blogging AIs. "Someone needs to know I am safe."

"Already a step ahead there, kid," Tony replied offhandedly and reached for the butter knife. "I had a bunch of my attorneys fly over the moment I knew about you. They were just waiting for me to give the go-ahead." He glanced at his watch. "They should be finalizing things about now. You're gonna be mine soon, kid. By blood and law."